OKEECHOBEE — First responders are never needed more than when a hurricane strikes our area, and Sheriff Noel E. Stephen has seen his share of storms in his nearly 40 years of law enforcement.
“The most important thing I have found in my 40 years here is to have a plan as to what we’re gonna do,” he said. “We sit an alley where not just the hurricanes, but also the people evacuating ahead of the hurricanes — east coast heading to the west coast or vice versa. They will impact us and our resources here. Also, our shelters don’t have a whole lot of capacity.
The sheriff recommends finding a news channel that you have faith in. “Follow that. Listen to the information and guidance coming from them.”
He went on to say that it seems the storms have been getting worse in recent years. “It’s not just the winds and the rains that impact us anymore. It is tornadoes as well. As we saw two years ago, they can be more dangerous than the hurricane itself. There is no planning for an F4, F5 tornado. It’s just devastation.”
Now is the time to make your family’s plan, the sheriff said. “Have it in place 48 hours before the storm is supposed to impact us.” He explained this is because if you wait any later, you will be impacted by people evacuating from other areas.
Okeechobee County even has an animal friendly shelter. The sheriff explained that in our community, we have a lot of elderly residents, who will not leave their pets at home if they believe they are in danger. “I’m proud we are able to offer this,” he said. “Because we now have animal control, we are able to make this available for our community.” Space is limited though, so the sheriff urges you to pay close attention, so you know when to preregister. In addition, you are responsible for bringing certain items for your pet. You can find this information on the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office website their Facebook page or even by phoning the sheriff’s office and speaking to Sgt. Jack Nash. “He is my community liaison and does a wonderful job. He will even come out and talk to folks in various communities if they are wondering what to do.”
Because most of Okeechobee’s shelters are in school buildings, they must coordinate the opening of the shelters with the closing of the schools.
If you plan to stay in the special needs shelter, you might want to register in advance, he said. There is limited space.
The sheriff’s office will do anything they can to help the citizens but once the storm reaches sustained winds of more than 40mph the deputies are pulled off the road for safety reasons. “At that point, we only respond if it’s critical.”
When the storm subsides and winds are back below 40mph, the deputies go back on the road. “We’re going to our county lines to make sure our roads are open,” he said. “We want people to be able to travel to us to get what they need from us.”
There are always exceptions to every rule, said the sheriff. “I remember the year we had all those back-to-back storms, Francis, Jeanne, etc., we had a shelter at the Moose Lodge in Whispering Pines. They had a roof failure DURING the storm. We were here. I wasn’t the sheriff back then. Paul May was the sheriff or O.L. Raulerson. We had some volunteers, and the winds had already gotten above that 40mph sustained, but I had a group of men and women that were ready to step up. We went up there in patrol cars and evacuated the people at that shelter and took them to one of the schools. “We drove them through those winds and rains. It was a proud moment having several men and women step up to risk their lives for the citizens of this county.”
“The unity that I see is what makes me so proud to see the way our men and women care for our community.”
When they go into what he terms “the lockdown,” he will station men and women in strategic areas throughout the county so they can respond quickly when called upon.
After the storms, he encourages everyone to refrain from rubbernecking. Allow the sheriff’s office and the police department and fire rescue to get a handle on things first. Later, you will be needed to help with clearing paths for your neighbors and cutting trees off roofs.
Right now though, he said, your mission, whether you choose to accept it or not, is to make a plan and put it into motion.
