DANIA BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - As Hurricane Matthew bears down on South Florida, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are reaching out to their communities to help residents prepare.
The deputies in the Deerfield Beach Tactical Deployment Team engage with the community every day, but Matthew is making their jobs slightly different. The deputies assisted shop owners with their shutters and helped the homeless find a place to stay.
“Because, if you’re out here, especially on the beach, if we get even a close direct hit, we have storm surges, we have flying debris,” said BSO Sgt. Floyd Baker.
Finding shelter during the storm is one of the most important parts of preparing for a storm, but one that many forget. For Lorraine Poillon, getting ready for the hurricane means finding shelter.
“It’s scary,” Poillon said.
Baker and the Deerfield Beach Tactical Deployment Team have been hitting the streets as the coastal city braces for the dangerous storm.
“We are out here just to make sure everybody’s ready, protect people,” Baker said.
“You know it’s a lot of stress on everyone, so you try to be visible, try to give them as much information as you can,” deputy Derek Diaz said.
Drew Shane, manager of Oceans 234 on the beach, said the restaurant was ready for the storm on the horizon.
“We’re closed tomorrow, Thursday, and if we’ve got power, we’re ready to go Friday morning,” Shane said.
But deputies said conversations such as the one with Poillon are probably the most important part of the preparation, and Poillon was grateful.
“It is comforting to know that I have someone to back me up,” she said. “I’m gonna see them tomorrow, and they’re gonna find me a place to go.”
These deputies typically put in about 100 hours of outreach work each week, but ahead of Hurricane Matthew, they’ve put in much more time.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.