For many, storm scare is valuable training exercise
By JOSH ZIMMER and LETITIA STEIN
Published August 15, 2004
TAMPA - The storm had passed, and Saturday was time for many Tampa residents to put things in order again, and a time for reflection. Hurricane Charley spared Tampa and surrounding communities the anticipated destruction of torrential rain, tree-bending winds and historic storm surges. Fear of the worst had driven many to board up their homes or flee to shelters. Saturday, John Adkins Jr. of Town 'N Country used the experience to prepare for the next hurricane scare.
He and his sons, Josh and John III, climbed onto the roof to glue down tiles that could fly off in strong winds. With more than three months of hurricane season left, Adkins said he isn't taking any chances.
"Who knows?" he said. "For the grace of God, or whatever, (the hurricane) took a jolt to the right."
Adkins heeded the evacuation order affecting 280,000 people in low-lying areas, heading north to ride out the threat at his mother's home in Citrus Park. Years ago, he drilled the holes and pre-cut the plywood so covering the windows wouldn't take long.
But no amount of preparation could have spared him from a storm surge, he said. A network of creeks that eventually connect to Tampa Bay exposes the entire neighborhood to flooding.
He credits forecasters with doing their best.
"Some things - you've got to realize there's nothing you can do," Adkins said.
Across Hillsborough, residents spent the day retaking control of their lives - at least until the next hurricane threat. That wasn't such a distant issue as new tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
In Lithia, Yadira Crespo unpacked bags she had lugged to a shelter at Newsome High School when the threat of Charley's winds forced her from her home. Out came items from her hurricane check list: pillows, towels, sleeping bags, baby gear for her infant.
Her family had evacuated because of uncertainty over how their 5-month-old house would handle a storm. They still don't know, and hardly regretted being extra careful.
"I don't mind," Crespo, 33, said with a laugh, while her husband pried plywood from the windows. "I'd rather have things to take down than not have a house at all."
Michelle Nelson and her husband spent the day with friends 14 miles to the north, leaving their Davis Islands home barricaded with sandbags, its furnishings resting on concrete blocks as one more hedge against the flood they'd been told to expect.
On Saturday afternoon, the sandbags lingered in their driveway.
They spent three days preparing their home, which sits off a canal. Her husband rushed home from business in Savannah, Ga., to help place the sandbags. Treasured photographs were stored in plastic bins the couple took when they evacuated. They headed north with their 3-year-old daughter and a cat.
"It was great to have notice," said Nelson, 39, who said she didn't mind that her preparations were for naught when the storm skirted Tampa. "Next time, it'll be a lot faster because I know what to expect. We've got the sandbags already."
After returning home late Friday night, they removed the blocks under the living room furniture. But Nelson said she felt no urgency to tear down everything at once.
"I know there's another hurricane coming, so I may not be too ambitious," she said.
