Totally agree. Begin to open things now.

What would have come of us if the people who removed Garbage Cans, Benches, Signs, Gates and did all the things we don't even realize that need to be done didn't show up for work because the Brains of the Operation Waited Until It Was to LATE?

What if the staff didn't show up for a Vast Variety of reasons and Risk Their Hide for $8 to $9 big ones an hour. Maybe some of them bailed out already.

Count me as Totaly in for those who made an Unquestionably Fine and Prudent Decision to act when they did instead of waiting One Minute longer than they did. Bravo. To those that question their judgment, I'm speechless and only because of the rules of our Forum. Best of luck to all and to all the people who keep us safe during the storm and Thank You.

:icon_wink: I have emailed the District Government. I gave them your name and the the name of several others who want to be in charge and make the important calls in the future when the well being of residents may be on the line. I am sure this will take a large load of responsibility off their shoulders and make them happy. Thank you for volunteering. :coolsmiley: And thanks for your expertise...... I had no idea safeguarding a development of over 65,000 homes and related infrastructure is no different than closing a store. :undecided:

Don’t you even listen to the weather experts?? We “know” for 100% certain absolutely nothing as of right now. That speaks to the total absurdity of your post.

Did not jump the gun, think of how many rec centers, pools, etc that need to be prepared by putting in outdoor furniture and outside rec items. also remember that those who work those places also have their own and family homes they need to secure.....it all takes time. Storms are unpredictable and I would rather have them prepared early rather than risking their lives at the last minute. Thank goodness we have people who care about all of us.

Some people will go out of their way to find things to complain about. :ohdear:

I was addressing the response that some people had saying that closing the amenities gave the employees time to get their homes prepared. This hurricane was predicted to impact our area on Monday or Tuesday. Now they're saying Wednesday. It has been one of the slowest moving storms in history to those predictions were pretty accurate.

I have friends who had all of their outside stuff pulled in last Thursday. That's pretty ridiculous IMHO. Again, how long does it take to prepare your house? If it takes days, you're not preparing properly to begin with.

Yes, closing up the rec centers and pools takes a bit longer but 4-5 days? I would think that if they kept them open until they had a better idea of what was going to happen, closing them down could be accomplished in a day. They might even ask employees who were off to come in and assist with the closing up operation since they are going to miss out on several days pay.

Regarding all the previous comments, I am reminded of the wisdom of the old adages, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". and also, "Better safe than sorry."

We are NOT out of the woods yet.

Yup, and if I lived on an island out in the middle of the ocean or near the east coast of Florida, I'd be very concerned. In fact, I'd probably have evacuated to someplace inland like The Villages by now.

I'll ask again. When was the last time the area of The Villages had serious widespread damage from a hurricane? I haven't been able to find an answer.

I know tornadoes hit in 2007 but that's not a hurricane.

We had the eye of Irma go directly over us in 2017 and it was not a big deal. We lost power in my area for about three days, but had no damage to the house and never lost water. Several manufactured homes had some damage, but it was mostly to carports and lanais. We also had a few roads that were impassable for a few days, but again, nothing that impacted most of us all that much.

Irma was a CAT 5 and the largest storm ever to make landfall in Florida. As it progressed up the middle of the state however it weakened and was a CAT 3 (I think) when it got here.

Here is what happened in Florida a few days in advance of Irma.
"An estimated 6.5 million Floridians were ordered to evacuate, mostly those living on barrier islands or in coastal areas; in mobile or sub-standard homes; and in low-lying or flood prone areas."

The question really is how much times does it take. All of those rec centers have staff. I can't imagine it taking more than a day to put away all of the outdoor furniture and other items. And like I said, many of the employees are going to miss several days pay. I'm sure that many of them would have been willing to come in and assist with whatever had to be done.

Your opinion is noted, but unless you work, run, manage any of the areas closed, your opinion is only noted and useless. I work for, Manage, one of the closed areas. Our employees were grateful and relieved for the quick action. Work was one less thing to worry about. Some staff left the area, their choice, but it gave them the ability to leave in a timely fashion. You are correct that this is a slow moving storm, BUT what if it speeds up and turns west?

Again we can live without a few days of Rec Centers, golf pools etc. But I know my staff has the peace of mind that they have time to make their personal choices.

Kudos to you, your staff, and district management for taking quick, decisive action. Over time, we realize some posters are experts on just about everything: golf course operations, golf course turf management: facility operation and management, and now hurricane preparedness. I wonder why we pay people when there is so much free expert advice available.

I think that even if the storm was on the original schedule to hit the Villages on Tuesday, they could have waited at least one more day to start preparations. It would still have given all employees time to prepare their offices, rec centers, pools, other amenities, with plenty left over to attend to their personal property and family plans to evacuate if that's what they chose.

Having said that, a day isn't going to make or break the Villages. If you're inconvenienced by "over-cautious" planning, I can't imagine the tirade you'd go into, if the storm hits and the Villages can't be back up and running for another three weeks (or longer). Remember all those stores where you buy milk, they have employees too and they will be doing whatever it is THEY do when a hurricane hits. So you might not be getting more cigarettes, or milk, or lottery cards, or bread, or ground chuck, or Wendy's burgers, for a long time if this hurricane happens to interrupt the power supply longer than a couple of days.

Relax. You're retired. What's the rush? You can play golf next week. You don't have to play it this week.

or does that only apply when it's someone other than you with a concern?

51 years ago, I wonder if their policy has changed?

:boom::boom::boom: