Polk Schools Superintendent Heid provides board with post-Hurricane Ian shelter report

Superintendent Frederick Heid gave the Polk County School Board an update on the district’s Hurricane Ian shelters, which opened the day before the storm's winds and rain ravaged the area. .

In addition to evacuation shelters for the public, there were three places of refuge for special needs residents as well as three pet-friendly shelters

Previously: Need shelter from Hurricane Ian? Here's where to go in Polk County

Also: Occupancy at Polk County shelters 'way low' compared to Irma

The district ran 17 shelters countywide with a capacity of nearly 30,000 residents sheltered at the schools. The district also hosted a Red Cross location at Kingsford Elementary School.

Heid said some or all of the shelters will need to have large electric generators in time for the next emergency because most of the them lost power during the hurricane. Ridge Community High School, a special needs shelter was the only one without a power loss.

He also said once power went out, shelter workers lost communication with each other via walkie-talkies because they could not recharge the batteries.

“It is essential to have generators at all our locations,” Heid said. He added, the expenditure would be expensive but could be part of a three-to-five-year capital investment plan.

Heid said utilization of the various shelters was only 14%, adding that less shelters and better deployment where the need was greater as well as larger schools being used next time will be examined. Despite the low turnout overall, some shelters were at full capacity and residents had to be told to go to another shelter.

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“We did find there were pockets of very high utilization,” Heid said. “And that may require us to revise and revisit some of our shelter sites.”

Due to the Mulberry Middle School being full at 550 individuals, he recommended considering next time a larger shelter could be utilized at Mulberry High School.

He cited the shelters in Kathleen and the Teneroc High School that allowed pets were at or near capacity.

He also praised the shelter workers, that included district employees like custodians, food services workers, teachers and school principals. Many left their own homes to help the evacuees.

“We had well over 250 individuals who worked throughout the storm to continue to support our community,” Heid said.

“And law enforcement, he added, “Law enforcement is an amazing partner. There were multiple law enforcement agencies and officers at all of our shelter sites throughout the storm. Many of whom were actually still transporting individuals at the start of the storm until it got too severe.”

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Some individuals stayed on campuses for 48 to 72 hours straight while their own homes sustained significant damage, in one case losing their roof and suffering subsequent interior damage, Heid said. Those individuals will be recognized in upcoming School Board meetings.

“One principal made her campus so enjoyable that no one wanted to leave,” he said.

Evacuees watched movies and were served popcorn all while the place was air conditioned and provided childcare.

Meanwhile, all of the schools sustained damage, but it was “not significant,” consisting of downed trees and fences. In the south areas of the county Heid had expected damage to the district’s 12 schools in the area following three hours of wind gusts of 80 to 100 mph but no significant damage was found during post-storm inspections.

Following those inspections, principals and teachers were allowed back on campus and by Monday maintenance workers had received 2,000 work orders requesting repairs across the district from water intrusion in ceilings and closets to windows needing to be resealed.

The total bill for the repairs will be part of a reimbursement, Heid said.

The district also deployed 50 employees to neighboring counties, primarily to hardest hit Lee County. In all, 36 maintenance workers, 10 custodians and four diesel mechanics went with their box trucks and inventoried tools. They sheltered at the Lee County school headquarters.

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Heid said he was going to provide the board with a financial statement at the next school board meeting addressing expenses incurred by Hurricane Ian. He is in talks with Polk County officials in hopes that the county will help with the bill for the shelters and the equipment, including generators, and supplies needed to run the shelters.

School Board Member Lynn Wilson agreed.

"It seems like the school district is taken for granted that we will provide that service but we are providing a service that if we were not there, the county would have to provide," Wilson said. "It just seems reasonable that they would help financially with some of that."

Board Member William Allen asked for data on how many evacuees were from outside Polk County were served.

"We are, I think a hub, a shelter for those coastal cities and counties as well," he said.

Board Member Lisa Miller suggested the district reach out the Lake Wales Charter Schools for a shelter.

"Talking about logistics of the shelters, I think it would be a great opportunity to partner with the Lake Wales district because from what I understand there was not a shelter in Lake Wales or Frostproof," she said. "People were coming into Winter Haven and registering them in the shelters we had available."

Opening up a shelter in Lake Wales would help in sharing costs and shorten evacuation travel times, Miller said.

"It is one of our schools, so it should meet the requirements of a shelter at the high school," she said.

Paul Nutcher can be reached at pnutcher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk Schools superintendent provides Board with post-Hurricane Ian report