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Hurricane Off-Season Jammed With Work

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By KYLE MARTIN, Hernando Today

Published: November 30, 2007

Updated: 11/29/2007 09:33 pm

BROOKSVILLE - With hurricane season winding down today, the public is letting out a collective sigh of relief.

Not Tom Leto.

As director of Hernando County Emergency Management, Leto still has his hands full in the off season preparing for the next wave of storms.

In his eyes, good emergency management is a continuous process.

"It's a series of steps," he said in an interview Thursday. "How can we be better than last year?"

It's a philosophy the public should share, too. After the summer of 2004 saw several storms plow into Florida, electric generators were all the rage.

Now Leto finds that people are selling them after two years without a major storm in Florida. People should hold on to them and their hurricane supplies, Leto said.

He suggests that if your emergency cache is complete, then help a neighbor or a relative build up their supplies.

Leto is doing the same thing, but on a larger scale.

New contracts have been awarded for debris clean up. Grants are in place to fund the hardening of the county's public works building so that it can serve as the base of operations for road clearance.

He's particularly excited about the new pet shelter at Parrott Middle School, a first for Hernando County. Most homeowners left their pets at animal services kennels during the hectic season of 2004.

Leto expects that the new shelter will be ready in 90 to 120 days - just in time for the state hurricane drill in May.

That event will gauge the effectiveness of the projects Leto hopes to accomplish the coming months. For example, the emergency management Web site has recently updated its e-mail alert system.

Fashioned after the sheriff's office's e-lert system, subscribers will receive updates on three phases of a storm. First is the pending storm: How should the public prepare? How much damage can be expected?

Through the storm, Leto and his staff will keep updates coming on wind speeds, storm surge and other hazards. Finally, a post-storm alert will give information on where to find help, the status of the county etc.

The emergency management team is developing a way to display a "broadcaster" in the corner of the message who will read aloud the information. That's designed to help people who have a hard time navigating the page or reading the information.

Leto acknowledges that a loss of power will essentially render this service moot. But it could be helpful for people that have evacuated and do have access to the Internet, he said.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com

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