City of Crestview issued the following announcement.
There was a receptive group in the Crestview Public Library’s children’s story room Friday morning, but they weren’t there to hear youth librarian Heather Nitzel read a book, sing a song or teach craft-making.
The library and the Crestview Community Center became welcoming homes-away-from-home for six strike teams of nearly 80 emergency medics and their fleets of ambulances from points as far distant as Ocala, Saratoga and Atlanta. At the library, cots were set up in the large public meeting room and the story room.
In the days following Hurricane Sally’s lumbering trek through the area, first responders arrived in Crestview, ready to go where directed by FEMA to assist those most affected by the storm in other, more westerly Northwest Florida communities.
The EMTs found a typical warm Crestview welcome awaiting them as they arrived in town after assembling at logistics points outside of the area. The library’s strike team spent two days at the Tallahassee International Airport logistics point in preparation for their response west to areas affected by the storm.
“We spent two days there making sure no one was hurt in that area,” Leopard Medical EMT Tracy Lafevre, from Marion County, said.
“People here have been more than accommodating in terms of anything we haven’t brought with us,” Metro Atlanta EMT Christina Northrop said. “I have never seen people more willing to help us.”
Thursday night, Central Baptist Church, which 15 years ago housed and fed Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, welcomed the visiting first responders.
“They opened their doors to supply us with a great home-cooked dinner and let us use their showers,” the library’s strike force leader, Nicholas Florio of Port Charlotte near Sarasota, said. “They were extremely accommodating for us.”
In addition to the EMTs, Florida Forest Service responders bringing water rescue equipment also overnighted in Crestview, staying at the Community Center. They were the last of the responders to leave the hall. The others shipped out Friday morning.
“We’re all anxious to get moving, get our hands dirty and help out the people who need us,” Mr. Florio said. “The hardest part is sitting and waiting for our assignments.”
Original source can be found here.
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