When storm threatens, these workers remain on the job

Those needed to deal with an emergency take care of personal duties, then it's off to work they go.

By TERESA BURNEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 25, 1998

ven Hurricane Georges can't stop babies.

That means Ruth Harrower, a maternity charge nurse at Clearwater's Morton Plant Hospital, can't be sure when she can leave work and return to her Redington Beach home. "And I won't know what I will come back to," Harrower said.

More coverage from the Times on our Georges site.

Like many others in the Tampa Bay area, Harrower will be working throughout the weekend. While many people's jobs shut down with the storm, others must leave their families and homes and go to work.

"That's what we are here for," said Susan Bowers, another nurse at Morton Plant's maternity ward.

Still, the job requirements can cause workers great anxiety. On Thursday, some were already at work, while others were working quickly to shore up their homes, pack provisions and settle their children and elderly parents with spouses or other relatives before heading to work.

Clearwater firefighter Louis Nemeth got a call Wednesday morning telling him to show up Thursday morning and be prepared to stay.

His 17-year-old son, Jonathan, couldn't be left alone for three days at their Brooksville home. He called Jonathan's mother; no answer. He checked with relatives. They were evacuating. Finally he reached his son's mother, who lives in Orlando.

"He's high and dry and safe," Nemeth said. Now Nemeth is free to concentrate on his job.

"When you are worried about other people, it's hard to be worried about family too," Nemeth said.

Cathy Keith spent Wednesday evening with her son, packing pictures, Christmas ornaments and her son's Lego toys, and moving them to higher parts of their Feather Sound home. They planned to evacuate this morning. She will go to work at Florida Power's customer service center in Clearwater. Her son will be with relatives.

"Everybody is expected to be here," said Keith, who supervises the workers who take calls from customers reporting outages.

The telephone workers have pinned signs on their cubicles asking Georges to go elsewhere.

"No bad hair days," said one. "Georges go away."

Despite the jokes, workers were ready for duty.

"When you come on board with Florida Power you know it's part of the assignment," said AmetaBowers, another customer service supervisor.