THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508240133
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
While Felix contemplated when or if he should attack Virginia Beach, more than 200 city and School Board employees staffed the dozen disaster shelters that were opened for those who preferred to wait out the storm in the safety of a public building.
At 7:30 last Wednesday evening Nancy Howard, a Department of Social Services eligibility worker acting as assistant shelter supervisor for the duration of the storm, surveyed the scene outside the main office of Larkspur Middle School.
The Larkspur site had been open for nearly 12 hours and Howard was pleased.
``This shelter has run about as smoothly as a shelter can run,'' she said. Her words were echoed by the school's principal, Dr. John Sutherland. ``They're doing a great job,'' he said, ``we're just supporting them.''
The ``they'' in this case were city workers from the departments of Social Services, Health, Mental Health and Police. Because Larkspur was the designated special medical needs and media shelter, Emergency Medical Services volunteers and a fire department educator were on hand there as well.
Sutherland, cafeteria manager Peggy Powers and custodian Xavier ``Tracy'' Nunnally were the school employees working with them.
It was not by accident that the shelters generally ran smoothly and that the workers took pride in their accomplishments.
For at least 10 years, the city has been refining the way it handles its shelter operations, learning both from its own experience in opening shelters and from the experience of the cities who faced Hugo and Andrew.
The day after the shelters were closed, senior social workers Al Duseault and Emma Barnard grabbed a few minutes from their regular work to talk about their Felix experiences.
Duseault, a 19-year Social Services employee, managed the shelter at Corporate Landing Elementary school, one of four primary sites. Barnard, who also has been with the department for 19 years, was the manager at North Landing school, one of the eight that closed early when the numbers of people expected did not materialize.
``We only had one family there,'' Barnard said. ``They were from Knotts Island.'' When the decision was made to close the lightly used shelter Wednesday evening, the family was fed and offered the option of going to another center. With the storm stalled, they decided to go home instead.
Having prepared for up to 500 people, Barnard's shelter had a rather serious overstock of food.
That situation, too, had been anticipated in the planning process. All excess food was donated to local charities, which feed clients.
North Landing's food went to the nearby Hope Haven Children's Home. ``We called the Red Cross, and they told us who to give the food to,'' Barnard said.
Shelter management is a cooperative effort between the city and the American Red Cross, as well as city departments. The Red Cross provides training for shelter staff and makes the financial arrangements for food and other necessities. If the shelters remain open more than 72 hours, Red Cross staff members and volunteers relieve city workers.
After the North Landing shelter closed, Barnard moved to Corporate Landing to give Duseault a hand.
He was grateful for the assistance. His shelter had close to 200 residents, including some who were homeless, transient or mentally ill. ``Our mental health, public health and substance abuse people were really kept busy,'' Duseault said.
Another issue at several of the centers were non English-speaking clients. To help in those situations, everyone entering the shelter was asked if they spoke a second language. Note was made of those who did so that they could translate if needed.
``Everyone worked very, very well together,'' Duseault said.
``We got to know our colleagues better,'' he said. On an even more positive note, the city workers discovered something that usually is overlooked. ``We found out we all have a sense of humor,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Social Services workers Al Duseault and Emma Barnard managed two of
the city's storm shelters.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FELIX by CNB