WELLINGTON, Fla. — With potential Tropical Cyclone 4 expected to strengthen to Tropical Storm Debby, Bill Butler said he sold a generator to a customer, at his door, right as the store opened Friday morning.
"It's the funniest thing," Bill Butler, manager at Rocky's Ace Hardware said. "We just got that generator yesterday and put it on the floor and it went instantly. They are not waiting."
"They" he said are new residents to Florida, who haven't seen tropical storms. Butler said people, originally from places like New York or New Jersey, are getting prepared for tropical weather even though the threat is currently facing counties along the Gulf and Central Florida.
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"They have no clue about any of our storms [unlike] us that have been through it a few times," he said. "They’re asking questions. What do they need? How bad is a storm? The ratings...They want to know what they need to be prepared for a storm."
Butler said these people are making the correct decision since it's more difficult to get materials during a more serious storm. He said they can run out of supplies like generators quickly.
"Last time we had a storm," Butler said, "we had customers from the front to the back at the service desk.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for about 60 counties, including Okeechobee County, as of Friday night. A press release said the Florida Division of Emergency Management is activating its State Emergency Operations Center to lead coordination efforts at Level 1 and has 3,000 members of the Florida National Guard ready to respond. It also said the Florida Department of Health is staging 90 ambulances throughout the state to support emergency evacuations.
Glen Talmadge, who moved to Wellington after living in Boynton Beach for years, said he's not doing much to prepare for the storm. He said this current system is "nothing" and will ride out the weather at home.
“I remember I packed up the dogs, the mother and law and we headed to Orlando," Tallmadge said. "And where did the storm go - Orlando. We drove right into it. I called my neighbors and they said it was a beautiful day."
He said he'd rather live in Florida and deal with tropical weather than live through other natural disasters common in other parts of the country.
