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.
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