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Highlands Today

Only 79 Reported To Hurricane Shelters

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Annie Welsh of Sebring enjoys dinner Monday at the special needs shelter at the Highlands County Agri-Civic Center. Welsh evacuated her mobile home because of the threat of Tropical Storm Fay.

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: August 20, 2008

SEBRING - By 9 a.m. Tuesday, Bill Nichols was already telling the 79 people who took shelter from Tropical Storm Fay on Monday night that it was safe to return home.

"If they want to start leaving now, they can," Nichols told Jeff Roth, who was acting as mass shelter director during the storm.

The county wasn't kicking out anyone, he emphasized. "The shelters will be open as long as they need them."

His phone was ringing every minute, making it difficult to carry on a conversation. On the wall above his desk were four souvenir T-shirts. The first said, "Sorry, Charley. We survived the best you had."

Nichols, who had a bedroll and a pillow in his office so he could spend the night if needed, realized when Fay hit the shore that it wouldn't be a significant storm, and that's when a storm is at its strongest.

He pointed to the outermost bands on his computer. "That band is 39 to 58 mile per hour winds."

It was north of Highlands County. "The highest wind we've had is 37 mph." His best guess was that the worst of Fay would leave the county by 5 p.m.

At the special needs shelter inside the Agri-Civic Center, a block from his office, winds were less than 20 mph, and people were going back home.

"Tell him to take my oxygen," said one woman, who was sitting in a wheelchair. The special needs shelter on George Boulevard. is for people who depend on oxygen or electricity, said Robert Palussek, the acting director of the county health department.

On Tuesday morning, he was wondering what to do with all the food.

"We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario," he explained. Behind him, in the stock room, there were five tables filled with bread, muffins, doughnuts, Hawaiian Punch, apple sauce, Campbell's Chunky Chicken soup and more. The health department bought it all to make meals and snacks for up to 150 people. That's how many appeared four years ago during Hurricane Charley.

They can keep the canned goods, Palussek said, but the perishables will be delivered Tuesday afternoon to the homeless mission on Lemon Street, the children's shelter on Sparta Road, and the Salvation Army.

Palussek said 78 people are registered to come to the shelter. With more than half of the hurricane season still to go, he's hoping that more will register if they may need to come to the shelter when another hurricane strikes. They can register at 386-6040.

Sitting near the door was Stephen Proffetta, 87, who was wearing an oxygen tube. At 10 a.m. Tuesday, he was more than ready to go back to his home in Sebring Hills.

"I would like to have stayed home," Proffetta said. But at 7 p.m. Monday, the medical transport came to his house and loaded him up. A small, thin man with an Irish name, during World War II, he led Philippine freedom fighters.

The shelter cot wasn't too uncomfortable, Proffetta said. "I slept most of the night. But that air conditioner almost got the best of me. I was cold."

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828

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