Central Florida farmers, homeless shelters brace for Christmas freeze

Stephen Hudak, Skyler Swisher, Orlando Sentinel
Updated ·4 min read

Like Santa, Lake County strawberry farmer Harry Stauderman is making his list, checking it twice, hoping to protect his acres of berries using agri-science and ice.

If the temperature hits 32 at night as forecast, he will flip on mechanical sprinklers at his Oak Haven Farms & Winery and run them nonstop until morning.

He’ll keep watch to make sure the sprinklers keep sprinkling.

“We’ve been through this hundreds of times,” said Stauderman, who has owned and managed the strawberry fields on Avington Road in Sorrento for 27 years. “As long as we don’t have any mechanical breakdowns, we’ll be fine.”

As water molecules change from liquid to ice, they transfer heat to whatever they touch, he said. The heat protects the strawberry blossom from which the fruit grows.

Central Florida is gearing up for an Arctic blast that will bring downright frigid air for Christmas. It won’t feel much like Florida this weekend.

Temperatures could plunge as low as 28 Saturday and Sunday mornings in some parts of Central Florida, said Megan Tollefsen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne. Wind chills will be as low as 20. A freeze watch has been issued for Saturday morning for the Orlando area.

“It is definitely going to get chilly,” Tollefsen said. “Bringing plants inside would be a good idea. Make sure to bring pets inside. Keep them indoors. Check on your neighbors that they have the appropriate resources available to them. Cover up any of those pipes.”

The last freeze in Orlando happened on Jan. 18, 2018, according to the NWS in Melbourne.

Emergency cold weather shelters are opening across the region, so homeless people have a warm place to sleep. The Salvation Army in Orlando is opening its cold weather shelter for men Friday through Tuesday and is expecting about 70 people, spokeswoman Natasha Player said.

Hot chocolate and blankets will be available, along with ham and cookies on Christmas, she said.

“We are getting them out from the cold,” Player said. “We aren’t turning anybody away.”

Central Florida shelters are putting cold weather procedures in place ahead of the Arctic blast, said Kate Santich, a spokeswoman for the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, in an email.

“All the shelters will open their doors to as many people as they can fit inside safely,” Santich said. “That can mean allowing people to sleep in the hallways or rooms not normally intended for sleeping. The bus system will give free rides to anyone wanting to reach the shelters.”

Orange County is opening warming centers, places people can go to get out of the cold but may not have cots, at Barnett Park and Goldenrod Park, Santich said. The warming centers are pet friendly, but animals must be in carriers or crates.

The Coalition for the Homeless, Orlando Union Outreach Mission men’s facility and The Salvation Army are all opening beyond normal capacity starting at 3 p.m. Friday and continuing into Monday, according to the Homeless Services Network.

Lake County will open cold weather shelters from Friday night through Monday at Trinity Assembly of God in Fruitland Park and LifePointe Church in Eustis. Osceola County’s cold weather shelter will be at First United Methodist Church in St. Cloud, and Seminole County will open the Rescue Outreach Mission in Sanford beyond normal capacity.

As for Stauderman, he said he is glad freezes don’t happen often in Florida.

“I don’t like it,” he said. “But I’m not nervous. I’m just like, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ I don’t get any sleep, and I freeze my [butt] off.”

sswisher@orlandosentinel.com; shudak@orlandosentinel.com

Cold weather tips

How to keep pets safe, according to Orange County’s animal services director :

  • Keep your pets indoors.

  • If a pet is coming in from a walk and it has been raining, towel drying them is recommended.

  • Avoid bathing pets during the freeze.

  • Check under cars before starting them up. Stray cats can seek out places of warmth like under the hood or on top of the wheels of a car.

How to protect your plants, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences:

  • Water them: This will bring heat into the soil.

  • Cover them: Use old sheets or towels to completely cover the plants from the top to the ground. Use soil and mulch around the edges to hold the cover down

  • Move potted plants: Place them in the garage or under benches on the porch

  • After the freeze, remove the cover, especially if the freeze is followed by a warm day.