Photo By Ashley Toomey | Lt. Cmdr. Tamarah Grant, Tampa MEPS commander, discusses hurricane recovery during...... read more read more
Hurricanes Helene and Milton took the southeast and its MEPS by storm, but the teamwork and flexibility demonstrated by Tampa MEPS personnel showed that when weathering the storm together, they came out stronger.
“Our biggest loss was the power outage,” noted Lt. Cmdr. Tamarah Grant, Tampa MEPS commander. “There were power lines down in the parking lot, only 2/3 of our power panels were working and a transformer was broken. The estimated time for repair kept getting pushed back.”
After closing their doors for only three working days, the building was operating on about half operational power due to damage caused by the storms.
“We had to get creative because half of the building was without power,” said Grant. “We had to think of creative solutions to take care of people and still support the mission and IRC partners.”
The various solutions included trips to hardware stores to gather supplies, setting up work lamps and most of all adaptability by the Tampa MEPS team.
“I was working from the national guard office on VPN,” explained Melissa Soucie, transportation assistant. “The Monday before the storm, I had to order a bus to pick up 17 shippers from Tampa MEPS and transport them to the Miami MEPS. A normally four-hour trip took seven hours due to traffic from the evacuations. They shipped from Miami MEPS that Tuesday.”
The Tampa international airport was closed due to Hurricane Milton Oct. 7-10, disrupting normal processes for shippers, causing the flexibility to transcend beyond the walls of Tampa MEPS and into Miami MEPS, displaying a dedication to service across MEPS.
Even when the MEPS closed due to safety concerns, the Tampa MEPS team remained connected through group chats, allowing continued communication through the storms.
“We communicated daily throughout the storm,” recalled Grant. “About 1/3 of the staff evacuated and WhatsApp allowed us to have accountability for everyone during the storm. Thankfully, nobody had any major losses.”
At the heart of Tampa MEPS’s triumph through the storms, the camaraderie and dedication to the team shined through.
“It was refreshing to see the team come together,” said Grant. “They actually were the ones who kept me motivated through the storms. It’s reassuring to me that they felt empowered to be able to make the decisions they had to in order to get back up and running.”
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2024 16:01 |
| Story ID: | 483791 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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