David McIntire worried about his family while he slept on an air mattress in the Gainesville Public Works office.
Although the Gainesville Fire Rescue emergency management coordinator had spent weeks preparing the city for Hurricane Irma, he couldn’t help but worry about his wife and two children sleeping at home while the storm clobbered Gainesville.
“The last thing you want to do is find out something went bad,” he said. “Until you make that phone call to make sure everyone is safe, it’s very stressful at times.”
His family fared well during the hurricane, and his sacrifices haven’t gone unnoticed.
About 50 people gathered outside Gainesville City Hall on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate and thank all of the public servants who made sacrifices for the city during Hurricane Irma. Among the crowd were firefighters; police officers; Gainesville Regional Utilities workers; City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs workers and workers from the city manager’s office, said Bob Woods, a city spokesperson. Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe delivered a brief thank you to the public workers and gifted each of them a flower donated by a citizen.
“Many employees put aside their personal needs,” Woods said. “They work long hours to support the overall mission to keep the community safe.”
The hard work of these public servants was reflected in the low crime rate during the hurricane and absence of serious injury or death in the community, Poe said.
Poe choked up as he addressed the crowd.
“There is nobody we’d rather serve than you all,” Poe said. “We are so incredibly fortunate that you are part of Gainesville.”
Throughout the storm, public workers responded to citizens’ demands.
GFR put out a major fire at the height of the storm, Gainesville Police helped control traffic at the 130 traffic lights that lost power, GRU restored power to about 41,000 customers, and the Public Works Department carried away more than 950 truckloads of debris, Woods said.
McIntire said it’s nice to know the community and local government are appreciative.
“It’s very important to make sure that you reward or acknowledge the successes that were made,” he said.
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Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe takes a selfie with city workers in front of Gainesville City Hall, located at 200 E. University Ave., on Thursday. Poe and city commissioners gave flowers to thank workers for helping after Hurricane Irma.
