Helpful thoughts for storm preparation

As you all probably know, our storm season will soon be upon us as June 1st is only about 3 weeks away. Although the last 3-4 years have been kind of quiet, I thought I would write a few lines that I hope may help our park residents to be better prepared should a storm occur.

First and foremost the clubhouse is NOT to be used as a shelter. Our recommended shelter is the new Island Coast High School on De Navarra Parkway in Cape Coral. Directions to the school are Route 41 north to Del Prado, left on Del Prado; go under the arch and take the first right. The school is at the end on the right.

Some items that you may want to take to the shelter with you are

1. Enough for about 3 days supply of non perishable food, can meat & fish, bread, peanut butter, cereal bars, granola bars
2. Water for about 3 days
3. Folding chairs
4. Sleeping bag
5. All your medications
6. Paper plates, cups, plastic silverware
7. Personal needs such as clothes, toilet paper, deodorant, tooth paste & brush
8. Can opener
9. Portable radio, flashlight and spare batteries
10. Anything else you might need.

I must also advise you that if a mandatory evacuation order is given and you choose to stay in your home, if you were to need emergency services, emergency apparatus may not be able to get through to you. Therefore, it is suggested that we adhere to a mandatory evacuation order.

Although we all do not want a bad storm, I hope these notes will be of some help to you in the event that one does occur.

Jack Goodwin, Former C.E.R.T Team Leader

CERT Recommendations

On April 6, 2009 your CERT team met with Jeanne Basak, CERT Team Co-ordinator for North Fort Myers, Captain Daryl Burton of the North Fort Myers Fire District and Julie Wilson of Park Management.

At this meeting, two (2) things were very strongly recommended.

1. All residents are asked to have some form of ID, preferably picture, to be presented to guards at gates should a bad storm or other emergency happen and the park needs to be closed.
2. All residents should put numbers, at least 4 inch and reflective on their homes. As a former emergency service worker, I must say that I can really appreciate this. If you have ever had to look for house numbers in an emergency, you know what we are talking about.

Jack Goodwin, Former C.E.R.T Team Leader