Facebook Pages Offered Lots Of Hurricane Irma Help

Jessica Meyers (left) of Little Italy’s Family Restaurant & Catering & Jennifer Ames of the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page brought food and supplies to the National Guardsmen who were called in to protect Pasco County and stationed at the vacant Target store near the Suncoast Pkwy.

As Hurricane Irma approached Florida, people across the state were posting on Facebook, looking to neighbors to answer their questions and calm their fears.

While the storm raged and when it was over, they kept posting.

They offered encouragement and prayer. They asked how they could help each other. They posted their needs, and others offered anything they had to help meet those needs. It happened among both friends and strangers.

On the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page, which boasts more than 8,500 members, administrator Jennifer Ames says the posts were continual.

“It was nonstop,” Jennifer explains. “There was never a second that went by without a post — a constant influx from Thursday through Monday.”

She says neighbors were trying to connect to people around them, looking for water, gas, plywood, generators and more.

There were more than 1,700 posts the week of the storm, nearly 17,000 comments and an additional 558 people joined the group.

“It was the first time I ever had to shut the site down,” says Jennifer, although she didn’t actually close the site; she just stopped people from posting without admin approval.

“It lost its efficacy because there was so much posting going on,” she says. “We made it so, as admins, that we had to approve the posts. Then, it was more useful and all those posts truly helped people.”

Carolyn Daly, a member of the Facebook community who lives in Quail Hollow, agrees.

“Through the whole storm — before, during and after — everyone was so helpful with letting people know who had water, who had gas, where sandbags were and with anything anyone in the community needed,” says Carolyn. “It was really amazing to see people coming together to support each other and not just look out for themselves.”

She says she was especially impressed with Joel Provenzano and Ryan Mills, two local “weather geeks” who posted information and replied to comments throughout the storm, sharing their knowledge of what was happening outside to worried people throughout Wesley Chapel while using the same information professional meteorologists were using.

The two men didn’t even know each other before creating the weather thread that turned into the most popular one to follow during the storm. Provenzano, a transportation engineer with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), said he has been through a number of hurricanes, including Andrew in 1992.

He caught the weather bug as a kid in Fort Myers, learning science in his father’s fifth grade class.

“Space and weather were the two big things he emphasized,’’ Joel said.

According to stats provided by Jennifer, Joel and Ryan’s weather thread generated 1,300 comments, 1,700 likes and was seen by more than 5,000 members, turning the duo into WC Community page rock stars.

“During the storm, Joel and Ryan updated every step of the way when the storm was really ramping up,” Carolyn says, “like how much longer there would be noise and high winds. It was more helpful than any of the news channels because it was so specific to Wesley Chapel.”

She adds, “It reminded me of what a neighborhood was when I was growing up. Only now, it’s a virtual neighborhood.”

That’s kind of what Jennifer Ames had in mind when she started the group.

“I grew up in a very small town in south Georgia, with a ‘neighbors helping neighbors’ spirit,” she says. “But, I never imagined a hurricane and a crisis. I didn’t know that it would work to this level.”

Bob Behrle’s wife, Kristie, is another WC Community administrator. Bob says the site was a great way to get resources and materials as people prepared for the storm. For example, Heather Robinson offered a few extra interior doors that had recently been replaced at her home to be used to board up windows.

“It helped us tremendously,” Bob said. “I never would have found that without Facebook.”

After the storm, the needs continued, and the Facebook posts continued, too.

Helen Bolton, who lives in Country Walk, heard from an out-of-state friend that her husband, a lineman, was in another Florida city helping to restore power and couldn’t get food. Helen wanted to make sure that wasn’t the case for linemen in Wesley Chapel.

“I would love to take them some food but I haven’t seen any,” she posted. “I’m looking for some sightings!”

Others responded when they saw linemen. Helen picked up a pizza and tried to catch up with where she heard the linemen were. She says she didn’t find them on the job, but did see a truck driving. By then, she was determined to get the pizza to the workers. She says she followed the truck for probably 30 minutes before she finally was able to flag them down and give them the pizza.

She posted her success, and more than 600 people “liked” her picture, encouraging her act of kindness.

Helen thinks the Wesley Chapel Community page helps people to be a better community to each other.

“It is unbelievable to watch, and because of social media, you do get to see it,” Helen says. “At the end of the day, it is amazing to see that people want be good and help others.”

Jennifer agrees. “We did a great job looking out for each other,’’ she says. “It was exemplary, the way individuals checked on each other. One lady who was blind and home alone wanted plywood over her windows. She was so upset, so I put a message out and within an hour, a neighbor was putting wood over her windows. It’s heartwarming and touching to know we have that in our community.”

She says now, the focus of the Facebook community is on helping small businesses. Local owners are telling Jennifer that this hurricane has been catastrophic for them

So, Jennifer says this month’s “Chappy Hour,” where people from the site meet in real life, is a special “Irma Edition,” where Wesley Chapel can come together and support small businesses. It will be held Friday, September 22 (tonight), 5 p.m.-9p.m., at The Brass Tap at the Shops at Wiregrass mall.

Anyone who is a member of the group is invited to bring a receipt showing they supported a locally owned small business dated September 12 or later, and she and other site administrators and sponsors will buy you a drink (courtesy of Coast 2 Coast Realty, Ellie and Associates Realty, 900 Degree Woodfire Pizza and The Brass Tap).

For Helen, the experience of feeling like part of a community during the storm makes her want to come out to her first-ever “Chappy Hour.” “I’ve never gone before because I always thought I wouldn’t know anyone,” Helen says. “This time I’m going because now I feel like I know people.”

There also is another community Facebook page for Wesley Chapel called the Wesley Chapel Network, which boasts more than 18,000 members and also was extremely busy during Irma, although we were not able to reach administrator Heather Stamp in time to be included in this story.

Anyone in Wesley Chapel can join either page. Just search “Wesley Chapel Community” or “Wesley Chapel Network” on Facebook.

Most Of Wesley Chapel Spared From The Worst Of Hurricane Irma’s Wrath

Scenes similar to this one in nearby Dade City were common across Pasco County, although Hurricane Irma inflicted less damage on Wesley Chapel than many other areas. (Photo: Brandi Whitehurst, PIO for Santa Rosa County Emergency Management.)

In the days leading up to the arrival of Hurricane Irma, one of the most devastating storms to ever threaten Florida, the frenzy was real.

Bottled water, plywood and food flew off the shelves at local stores, days before Irma touched down. Roads were clogged with evacuees heading for higher ground or, as the storm got closer, local shelters. Gasoline was practically drained from every station from Miami to Atlanta, GA.

“We were scared. Everyone was scared,’’ said Meadow Pointe III resident Inelia Semonick. “Waiting for it made everyone nervous.”

The waiting, as it turned out, was the hardest part for most Wesley Chapel residents.

After making landfall and devastating the Florida Keys and Naples as a Category 5 storm, Irma moved up the Florida peninsula and lost much of her power, hitting the Tampa Bay area as a Category 2 hurricane. It still delivered a blast of howling winds, rain and the snap, crackle and pop of tree branches breaking off, but did minimal damage to most of  our area, although plenty of clean-up remains and flooding continues to plague the east and west sides of the county a week after the storm.

“This is not over, we’ve got a long way to go,’’ said Kevin Guthrie, Pasco’s assistant county administrator for public safety. “I told our teams, when we go into recovery mode, that’s when we usually have problems with the community and neighbors. We are always judged by the recovery, not always by the response.”

The 26 shelters throughout Pasco County were able to release some of their 24,100 occupants the morning after the storm. Residents returned home to find trees uprooted, fences down and the power out.

While most power in Wesley Chapel was restored, even as the Neighborhood News went to press on Sept. 15, there were still hundreds of local residents still waiting.

The four power companies that service Pasco County — Duke Energy, Tampa Electric Company, Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative and Sumter Electric Cooperative — reported a high of 217,382 addresses without power, out of 261,000 total addresses, or 83 percent.

As of Sept. 14, that number was down to 51,847, or just 19 percent.

“While Hurricane Irma could have been much worse,’’ Pasco County administrator Dan Biles said, “she still left quite a mess across the county.”

(l.-r.) Meadow Pointe III residents Javier Casillas, Ernie Rodriguez, Gary Suris and Nick Casillas begin cutting up the second of three trees they removed on Beardsley Dr. (Photo courtesy of Inelia Semonick).

The county says that, at the peak of storm damage, 749 roads were closed, but that number was down to 126 by the end of last week.

County crews leapt into action to meet the demands of residents across Pasco.

“Awe-inspiring efforts,’’ said Biles, citing the work of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), the Pasco School District, local charities like the Salvation Army, the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and others. “Our partners throughout the community have really helped us through this and allowed to get us where we are today.”

The community also has been lauded for its response. As residents returned to homes, or opened their doors Monday morning to assess the damage, many immediately went to work checking on their neighbors and lending plenty of helping hands.

A Few Local Stories

Robert Castillo II rode out the storm in Westbrook Estates with his fiancé, Brittany Velez, and 10-month-old son Robert III. Castillo said that having a newborn to care for heightened the anxiety of the storm.

Like many, he was relieved when he opened his front door Monday morning.

“The anticipation was crazy,’’ said the Wesley Chapel realtor, “but we didn’t get the full brunt of the storm by any means.”

Robert turned to helping his parents, who live in Zephyrhills and had a tree downed, as well as neighbors who needed to clean up and dispose of sandbags.

In Meadow Pointe III, Ernie Rodriguez joined neighbors Gary Saris and Javier and Nick Casillas in clearing a fallen tree from busy Beardsley Dr., using a chainsaw to cut the limbs and move them to the side so traffic could pass. A few yards down the road was another tree, and after that, another tree.

“We did enough to clear the road,’’ Rodriguez said, who then returned home to check on an elderly neighbor. “That’s what people do, right? They help out in times like this.”

Many others across the area joined in, swapping generators, providing their homes to those without power who might just need a shower, and teaming up to clear away debris. Local businesses rushed to re-open so power-free people could eat, with many offering ice to their fellow residents.

District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, who lives in Seven Oaks, said he was moved by the outpouring of support in the area he represents.

“It’s been a joy to watch how the community has come together and answered the call,’’ said Moore, who used social media to rally people to Wesley Chapel High to help load wheelchairs, beds, oxygen tanks and other equipment into trucks to help those with special needs, especially the elderly, return to their homes.

“I’ve been getting calls, texts and messages on Facebook, from people asking what can I do, what do you need?,’’ Moore said five days after the storm ventured north of our area. “It’s never ending.”

Wesley Chapel Nissan, which already was organizing a drive to collect supplies for Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas before Irma hit, ended up diverting a large portion of those non-perishable foodstuffs, water and more to the National Guard soldiers who were stationed on S.R. 54 in the parking lot of the former Target store near the Suncoast Pkwy.

“We had local people in need,” said WC Nissan’s Troy Stevenson. “And, so many people pitched in to help,” including Comm. Moore and Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce president Hope Allen.   

For the most part, there seems to be relief that the most dangerous storm — and certainly the most hyped storm — in more than a decade seems to have only grazed an area that was forecasted at various times to be directly in the path of Irma’s eye.

The Norlands, who live in Quail Hollow, didn’t realize just how much damage Hurricane Irma did to their home until the day after the storm. (Photo: Cristy Norland)

But, the relief and rosy post-hurricane outlooks are hard to read for some residents, especially those in the Quail Hollow and Angus Valley areas of Wesley Chapel, which traditionally experience flooding after storms.

In their preparation for Irma, Cristy and Josh Norland, who run the Bacon Boss food truck and live on Quail Hollow Blvd. just past Cypress Creek, piled sandbags two feet high to protect the home they rent from expected flooding. Inside, Cristy put her more valuable and treasured items, like her dining room table, up on bricks.

The Norlands, including daughters Bria (13), Cassi (11) and Anni (7), weathered the storm at her mother’s house 10 minutes away, and were surprised that the storm passed by without doing nearly the damage they had expected.

When they returned to their home the next morning, however, their relief was quickly washed away by what they saw.

“I just about a had a heart attack when I turned the corner and saw what is now a lake,’’ Cristy says. “It was like a bad scene from a movie. There was water all around the house, two feet deep. I knew right away the sandbags hadn’t done any good.”

Inside, however, the water was only two inches deep, and hadn’t yet breached the surface above the bricks, providing the Norlands with some relief.

“I thought, ‘Thank God we had the precaution to put some things on bricks,’’ says Cristy, who returned to her mother’s house to call her landlord.

When she returned to her house four hours later, another shock: the water in Cypress Creek had continued to rise. The water was up to her thighs in the driveway, it had risen past her windows, and those bricks she had perched important items on? “Comical,’’ she says.

She adds that she saw tadpoles swim by and earthworms float through as she waded through her kitchen. While the food truck was safe, moved before the storm to her mother’s house, the Norlands run their business out of their home and stored much of their commercial equipment in the garage.

The waters, which Cristy says “turned little old Cypress Creek into a raging river,” were devastating.

“A total loss,’’ she said. Her church helped them salvage what they could, but Cristy says ¾ of the house went to the dump.

The Thursday after the storm (Sept. 14), the Bacon Bus food truck had its first gig in two weeks in Lakeland.

The forecast called for rain.

New Identities Hair Studio Featured On HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ With The Bucs!

It wasn’t just another hair coloring appointment for Katie Ellwood.

After all, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander was sitting in her chair at the New Identities Hair Studio of Tampa in Tampa Palms and a handful of television cameras were pointed right at her.

Everything she said, every move she made, every hair she dyed red was going to be shown to the entire country on HBO’s popular “Hard Knocks” reality show. “Was I nervous?,’’ Katie said. “Yeah, a little.”

Thanks to a recommendation from one of her customers, Bucs defensive tackle and Tampa Palms resident Gerald McCoy, Ellwood was working her magic on Alexander, who was looking to sharpen the red in his current ‘do. Katie had done a similar job on McCoy two years ago, and the All-Pro lineman noticed that Alexander’s color was fading and told his teammate he needed to go see his stylist.

“Hard Knocks,” which airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on HBO and offers a behind-the-scenes look at one NFL team each preseason – this year it’s the Bucs –  followed along.

“That was my first experience with a camera crew focused on what I was doing,’’ said Katie, although she has been involved in other photo shoots over the years. “The production crew was very nice and very informative.”

Marc Rockquemore, who owns New Identities Hair Studios of Tampa with his wife Kelly, said they had less than 24 hours to get ready for Alexander and the HBO crew.

Being on reality television shows, however, is old hat for Rockquemore and the crew at New Identities, which has been featured on shows like FOX-TV’s “Ambush Makeover,” The Learning Channel’s “A Wedding Story” and MTV’s “True Life.”

New Identities also has had a long relationship with the Bucs. From 2003 until last year, Rockquemore sent a crew of stylists to every Bucs game to do the cheerleaders’ hair. Currently, New Identities is working with the Tampa Bay Lightning cheerleaders.

“We’ve had a lot of blessings come into our lives,’’ says Rockquemore, whose studio has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram.

Katie’s experience in front of the cameras took more than an hour, but once edited by HBO producers, was distilled into her 30 seconds of fame in the show’s third episode (check it out on the HBO GO app).

Instead of any viewing parties, Katie said she just went over to her girlfriend’s house to watch it when it aired.

“It was a little strange to see,’’ said Katie, a big Bucs fan and “Hard Knocks” viewer even before her appearance. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t sound like a goober or anything. Once my 30 seconds were over, I was able to relax and just watch the rest of the show.”

She did receive a slew of text messages that night. Patrons at the new Fat Rabbit Pub in Tampa Palms, which Katie owns with her husband John, congratulated her the next day. Two days later, an old friend and former Bucs cheerleader texted her from New York to tell her she had seen her on the show.

“Overall, it was a really cool experience,’’ Katie said.

For more information about the New Identities Hair Studios in Tampa Palms (15307 Amberly Dr.) and South Shore (10639 Big Bend Rd., Riverview), visit NewIdentitiesSalon.com, or call (813) 979-0760 (New Tampa) or (813) 741-1177 (Riverview).

More Assisted Living, Home Decor, Food Options For Wesley Chapel

With the Beach House at Wiregrass Ranch set to open its doors in December, another assisted living facility may be on its way to Wesley Chapel.

According to plans filed with Pasco County, TLC Management is looking to build a 125,000-sq.ft. residence that will include an adult living and skilled nursing facility at the corner of Eagleston Blvd. and Stockton Dr. in Seven Oaks.

TLC Management had its pre-application meeting with county staffers last month.

The proposed 9.7-acre site is located in Seven Oaks between Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and I-75. According to conceptual site plans, the facility would have more than 230 parking spots and offer private rooms, dining and activities and plenty of green space for its residents.

TLC Management is an Indiana-based company that was created in 1987 with a focus on independent and assisted living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation and memory care. In 30 years, it has created 15 health and rehabilitation centers, as well as two assisted living and independent retirement communities in Indiana.

The company does already have two locations in Florida — Bridgewater Park Assisted Living in Ocala and The Village at Vienna Square in Winter Haven.

According to the Indianapolis Star, the company’s most recent project was a $14-million health and rehabilitation center in Indianapolis, which was expected to create 140 jobs and accommodate 199 patients.

TLC Management is owned by brothers Dwight, Gary and Randy Ott. The brothers were inspired to get into the business by their grandmother, who operated a nursing home in Iowa.

Messages left with TLC Management were not returned.

Home Decor Getting A Boost

Shoppers looking for home décor ideas soon will have plenty of new options in Wesley Chapel, as Cost Plus World Market is close to opening and At Home may not far behind.

Cost Plus World Market, which is under construction at 5833 Wesley Grove Blvd. in The Grove plaza, will be the first store shoppers see when they turn right on Pink Flamingo Ln. and enter the shopping center at its southernmost point. It will replace the AT&T store, although the space is being modified to account for the larger home décor store.

Although Cost Plus World Market filed its original plans with the county in 2016, The Grove let everyone know it was coming soon recently hanging a “Cost Plus World Market Coming Soon” banner at the construction site.

The 18,600-sq.-ft. store will be located next to Bed Bath & Beyond and Cost Plus World Market is a subsidiary of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

Based in California, Cost Plus World Market specializes in an eclectic assortment of unique items for the home, from furniture to jewelry and accessories, as well as gourmet food and drinks. It claims to sell items imported from more than 50 countries.

Cost Plus World Market has 277 stores nationwide. The Wesley Chapel location will be the second in the Tampa Bay area, as a location in Clearwater opened on Aug. 3.

It could soon have competition from At Home, which is looking to join the busy scene just a few miles down Wesley Chapel Blvd./S.R. 54, south of S.R. 56, tucked behind the Tampa Premium Outlets and just off the new extension of Wesley Chapel Blvd.

Guggenheim Development of Dallas has filed plans with the county to put At Home in a 108,490-sq.-ft. retail space just south of Grand Cypress Blvd., and south and east of Costco.

The developer met with county staff earlier this month. According to site plans filed at that time, the proposed store would have 485 parking spaces, and would abut another still-unnamed 72,000-sq.-ft. retail store.

At Home claims to offer the largest and freshest assortment of home décor items, at the lowest prices, including its own unique products all sold in a “no-frills warehouse without all the commissioned salespeople.”

The store sells home and wall décor, furniture, pillows, rugs, housewares, seasonal items and much more.

Students & Teachers Across Wesley Chapel Are Back In School

The lunchrooms and the walkway and courtyard at Cypress Creek Middle High School were finally filled by students as the new school, while others across Pasco County were back in business on Aug. 14. (Photo: Pasco County Schools)

Among the thousands of students who went back to school in Pasco County on August 14, more than 1,500 of them spent their first day at Wesley Chapel’s newest school, Cypress Creek Middle High School, which is located off Old Pasco Rd.

Cypress Creek Middle High was expected to open with about 1,500 students, but actually had 1,603 students show up on the first day. The school’s capacity is 1,958 students, so it still has some room to grow.

The new school was needed to relieve crowding at not only Wiregrass Ranch High and John Long Middle schools, but also has students who previously were zoned for Sunlake and Wesley Chapel high schools, as well as Weightman and Rushe middle schools.

All students at the new school follow the same bell schedule, from 7:25 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.

“The first few days have been outstanding,” said Cypress Creek principal Carin Hetzler-Nettles. “Our students are enjoying their new environment and are learning the layout of the campus. Other than the normal situation of getting used to the routine, and watching to see where we need to change procedures with car loop or bus loop, etc., we have truly had an amazing first few days.”

Hetzler-Nettles also said that the campus was filled with Parent Teacher Student Association members helping students find their classes, and even Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning was on hand to help welcome the students and direct them to their new classes.

Cypress Creek Middle/High. (Photo: Cypress Creek Howler)

“It takes a village to open a new school,” added Hetzler-Nettles, “and our community has just been so welcoming and helpful! We couldn’t have done it without them and are excited for our future!”

Among those who helped get the teachers set up in their new digs at the school on July 26 were volunteers from the Pasco Education foundation and the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel.

At Long Middle School, one of the schools that lost students to Cypress Creek, principal Christine Wolff said, “You always miss the kids on campus that you have grown attached to, and my wish for all of our former students is to have a good adjustment and get excited for learning, and take that excitement for learning with them wherever they are.”

She says that while Long’s enrollment numbers are down slightly (1,488 students were enrolled on opening day this year, versus 1,810 last year), the school is still over capacity because of all the growth in the area.

“We did have a smooth start to the school year,” Wolff says, “And, just like all of our Pasco County schools, we’re focused on meeting our school improvement goals and making sure they (the teachers and students) are meeting the learning standards in the classroom.”

And at Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH), the 10-period schedule is a thing of the past, as many former students have new homes at either Cypress Creek Middle High or WCH.

A contentious rezoning process last year was designed to ease the overcrowding at Wiregrass Ranch while also filling the new school.

“We had a great start,’’ said WRH principal Robyn White. “We are back to the 7-period day, and while there are a lot of students on campus at the same time, it is manageable. We started day one with a little over 2,200, which was a decrease of 300 from last year.”

CORRECTION: We inadvertently omitted New River Elementary from our chart of Pasco County school grades in our last issue. We’re really sorry about that, because principal Lynn Pabst and the students and teachers at New River earned a “B” grade for the third consecutive year.