President's Message

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Coming In From The Storm

Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

The names almost resonate like distant uncles and aunts, the kind of folks you picture rocking back in chairs on the front porch enjoying a cloudless night under a starry sky.

But as we all know unfortunately too well, the otherwise innocent names represented four devastating hurricanes that tore through Florida and other states in the months of August and September, leaving behind a trail of property destruction and dozens of deaths. The images we saw repeated not once, but three times, were of people boarding up their houses and their businesses, gridlocked highways of people evacuating, and finally, the aftermath and the despair etched on faces of those who returned to discover Mother Nature’s cruel wrath on what were once their homes.

For anyone who has been through a hurricane, I do not have to tell you of the stress that is involved. There is the uncertainty many face about whether to evacuate their life’s possessions or not (although I question the thought process of those who elect to stay in mandatory evacuations), the uncertainty of whether the hurricane will spare their homes and even the uncertainty of often knowing just where to go in an evacuation.

As I followed the news of the storms and all of the bleak reports, I was nevertheless proud of my peers who work in facilities in many of the cities where the devastation occurred. When the general public thinks of us and what we do, the obvious comes to mind in that we are places where you can see concerts, trade shows, sports, meetings and more.

But when things look the bleakest, it is often our chance to shine our brightest, as I saw facilities do as they opened their doors as evacuation shelters to thousands of people, including many who were homeless on the street.

We all have within our mission statements our defined roles of meeting and serving the needs of our communities, but it is safe to say that we are at our most meaningful when serving as havens to people who are in precarious life-and-death situations. And when chaos and confusion swirl about us like the winds of a Category 4 Ivan, it is our job to keep our cool, calm and collected heads about us. Admittedly, that’s not the easiest thing to do when we too have our own homes in the community and also worry about the safety of relatives and friends who live in the path of the storm.

From Florida to Texas, a number of public assembly facilities opened their doors for their weary and wary neighbors:
• The Pensacola (FL) Civic Center became a hub during Hurricane Ivan and reached a capacity of 1,600 after officials determined that the venue’s main dome might not withstand the hurricane-force winds. The facility seats almost 10,000 in its main arena. Fortunately sheriff’s deputies were present to redirect people to other shelters and although the venue suffered water leakage, its roof remained intact minus five return-air vents that were knocked off.

Thinking safety first, venue officials moved people around the facility, first from the floorlevel to avoid flooding, then away from areas where the roof could collapse. A nurse was also present to handle any minor injuries.

Elsewhere in Pensacola, the Bayfront Auditorium was not so lucky and was rendered a total loss (it was scheduled for demolition anyway), while the Saenger Theatre suffered roof fabric damage.

• Ivan was at first thought to be headed to New Orleans, where a direct strike on the city would have been devastating. And while Ivan instead turned to the East, the Superdome in New Orleans opened and provided some 200 cots to needy individuals and families. That number was down significantly from the 14,000 people who stayed at the Superdome for two nights when Hurricane Georges struck in 1998.

• Even Ford Park at the Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas, opened as a shelter for those evacuating from Ivan. Locals donated emergency supplies, including blankets, portable mattresses, food and water and other goods to help those staying there. A number of volunteers arrived to help staff the arena.

• Jeanne, the last of the hurricanes, caused minor water damage and some ceiling tile damage to the Kissimmee (FL) Civic Center, which was open as a shelter for special needs patients. Kissimmee, like Pensacola before it, offered food and water for those riding out the storm.

In the spirit of the holiday season, these are glowing examples of serving others in time of need and how we are much more to our communities than just places for people to publicly assemble.

Out Of Many, We Are One … place for people to come in from the storm. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Jimmy Earl, CFE
IAAM President