Editor: While I am glad that the brunt of Hurricane Charley did not directly hit the Tampa Bay area and Pasco County in particular, I belive it should be pointed out that there was dereliction of duty and negligence on the part of the builders in Heritage Pines.
I am in a new home, and there is considerable construction of other new homes in my neighborhood. There was a considerable amount of building material (e.g., lumber, concrete blocks and other debris) that were left unsecured at a number of nearby home sites and that could have caused quite a bit of damage to homes and lives if the hurricane had come full force into our area as originally forecast.
The clubhouse and homeowners association shut down their offices at 3 p.m. Thursday, nearly 48 hours prior to the storm. Calls and an e-mail to the builders on Friday morning went unanswered.
It is my hope that Pasco County officials will require home builders to take appropriate action in the future to ensure maximum safety to residents. Fortunately, the storm did not come in full force and the lack of preparation did not create a problem this time. Let's ensure proper emergency and disaster planning that requires builders to protect our residents.
-- Neil Thompson, Hudson
Threat of danger exposed community's kindness
Editor: As the principal of Trinity Elementary, I am also the shelter manager responsible for the coordination of the shelter operations. That includes organizing the facility, food and custodial services. That is nothing new; principals do that every day. And we have fantastic employees who perform those duties marvelously. That was done in each of the schools that provided a safe haven for the citizens of our communities.
Trinity Elementary opened as a shelter on Friday morning. Our guests began to arrive just after 6 a.m. They came from Holiday, New Port Richey and Odessa. Many lived west of U.S. 19, but the majority came from mobile and manufactured homes. They ranged in age from 10 months to 96.
During those 17 hours I met more than 300 people who became instant friends. Some came, not because they had to evacuate, but to volunteer. They assisted in the preparation of food, brought blankets to share with those who hadn't one, and went room to room delivering slices of cake donated by Publix as a mid-morning snack.
In classrooms designed for children, our guests kept a wary eye on the storm reports while they played cards, read the stacks of the St. Petersburg Times that are regularly delivered for school use, napped on the floor or in their chairs with their heads on desks or, like my new friends from Country Place, had a grand time visiting and telling jokes and stories. They offered to share their pallet on the floor if we had to spend the night and even invited me to join them on a cruise in October!
More importantly, I witnessed our guests become a community of caring citizens. They kept spirits high, they calmed fears, they expressed and showed concern for the welfare for the elder members of our group who exhibited signs of distress and fatigue. Miss Emma, who is 96, looked out for her friends who were younger than she, a former school volunteer gave his blanket to tiny Miss Ruth, also 96, and helped her with her meals which were delivered by Kay, our Red Cross volunteer.
In the rooms that housed younger families, they turned down the volume on the TVs and turned off lights so little ones could nap. Human kindness abounded!
I want to thank my staff, my administrative colleagues, sheriff's deputies, Ramone, a retired firefighter, our Red Cross volunteers and those nameless volunteers who helped me make our shelter as comfortable as possible for our guests. Most of all, thanks to all my new friends for demonstrating your kindness, caring and community responsibility - character traits I endeavor to instill in my students every day.
