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Published on Thursday, September 2, 2004
in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
After years of seeing his dad leave for weeks to help disaster victims around Florida, Fred Jones' 7-year-old son may have a hard time understanding this one.
Jones, a 15-year veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol and a member of its Rapid Response Team, is getting ready for another likely deployment to a disaster zone as Hurricane Frances approaches Florida's east coast. Other police and fire agencies around Broward County also are waiting to see if their help will be needed.
But this time, Jones may not have to go too far: His hometown of Sebastian, near Vero Beach, is projected to be near where Frances makes landfall.
"I am very scared because if a storm hits this area, I'm worried about my home," said Jones, 41, who has worked in several disaster relief operations, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. "After going through a number of the hurricanes around the state, I've seen a lot of damage and the faces of people who have lost their homes. I'm hoping it doesn't happen here, but I'm preparing myself mentally for that." The threat of Frances comes just days after the Rapid Response Team returned from Arcadia in DeSoto County, which was devastated by Hurricane Charley on Aug. 13. The team was there for 17 days, and Jones said his son, Frederick Jr., and his 9-year-old daughter, Taylor, mobbed him when he walked into his home Sunday.
They'll be saying goodbye to him again today as the children will be heading to western North Carolina with their mother to avoid the storm. Jones said he's still doesn't know where he'll ride out the storm -- or when he'll see his family again.
"I'll have that talk with him tonight," Jones said Wednesday when asked if he had explained to his son why he'll be away again.
Bob Strandell, a battalion chief with the Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Department, also lives in Sebastian and risks seeing the kind of devastation he saw more than two weeks ago when he lead a team of firefighters in Charley-ravaged Punta Gorda.
He, like Jones, is shuttering up his home and hoping for the best.
"It's brutal, especially in this heat," Strandell said while installing the shutters Wednesday. "We're just keeping our fingers crossed that everything is OK in this town."
Many law enforcement agencies in Broward County are waiting to see where Frances hits before deciding where, and if, to send relief units. Until then, officials said, they will be in "standby" mode.
Mike Jeffries, a Broward FHP trooper and also a member of the Rapid Response Team, said that like Jones, he's ready to help disaster victims, regardless of where the Frances hits.
"It's rough work, but I'd rather go help them than have someone come help me," Jeffries said. "You feel guilty because at least you have your health. I have no problems with doing it again."