We are now in hurricane season. Are you prepared if a storm comes our way?

I have heard neighbors say that they will watch the weather and they might leave when a bad storm is 2 days away. Since I-75 is a parking lot most days at 5 PM, how fast do you think it will move with a million or more people from our south already on the freeway? For your family’s safety, please build your storm plan now.

If you might help your neighbors after a storm, helping as a CERT member can help you stay safe and provide help in an organized manner. Check out www.lwrcert.org/join to learn more.

Our wonderful Team Captains demonstrated their organizational skills while we played Disasterville at a recent Team Captain Workshop. Thank you for your leadership!

President, LWR CERT

The June 14 Member Meeting will feature Cindy Underwood, a LWR resident affiliated with the Auto Club Group Foundation and AAA, presenting LWR Traffic: Road Rage, Bad Drivers and You.

LWR CERT currently has 210 members. Based on the number of homes in LWR Phase 1, our organization needs more members on our neighborhood teams to provide adequate help after a major storm and to provide assistance in a reasonable amount of time.

Join your neighborhood LWR CERT team today. Visit www.lwrcert.org/join for details.

Know someone who lives in Manatee County outside of the LWR area who might be interested in joining a CERT team? Share this link: www.mymanatee.org/CERT or have them email Manatee.CERT.coalition@gmail.com.

Local nonprofit, Keep Manatee Beautiful, is hosting a 1st Saturday Clean Up on Lorraine Road, Saturday, July 2 from 9 AM - Noon.

You are invited to join LWR CERT members and the entire LWR community for this Keep Manatee Beautiful event. We will meet at the parking lot of Terry's Tree Service, 4304 Lorraine Road. 

More than 125 residents registered to attend this year's Hurricane Prep public education session.

All who attended received Manatee County Disaster Planning Guides and were emailed links to important hurricane prep documents and websites.

If you were unable to attend, LWR CERT has scheduled a second Hurricane Prep for LWR Residents event on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 9 AM at LWR Town Hall. Register here.

For immediate access to information on hurricane preparedness, visit our website www.lwrcert.org/hurricane. You can also watch videos of previous year's Hurricane Preparedness sessions on our YouTube channel.

Disasterville struck LWR Town Hall Saturday, May 21 during the Team Captain/Group Leader workshop. Attendees sharpened their activation skills as they reacted to simulated hurricanes in a tabletop activity. Group Leaders reviewed the actions they'd take during an actual evacuation including communicating with team members, designating a meeting location, assigning teams, reacting to downed power lines and floods, and filling out forms.

Did you know:

New this year:

Team Captains play a vital role in the ability of LWR CERT to activate. Thank you to all TCs, back up TCs, alternate TCs, and GLs who attended the workshop. Under the direction of TC Coordinator Jan Kuhn, the TC/GL Workshop featured presentations by Dave Cashbaugh, Hilary Harter, Pat Knowles and Mike Defferding with the support of Nigel Pilling, Bruce Bedford and numerous other members. Thank you all for the time you devoted to making this workshop so fun and educational!

May was Stop The Bleed Month. In recognition of the 50 LWR CERT members who attended Stop The Bleed training during our April Member Meeting, LWR CERT donated Stop The Bleed kits to Lakewood Ranch Town Hall IDA Operations.

President Jim Emanuelson (left) presented IDA Executive Director Steve Zielinski with a Stop The Bleed kit, which will be mounted in the Town Hall lobby near the AED for use in an emergency at Town Hall.

New this year, the tax holiday also includes items related to the safe evacuation of household pets including canned and dry pet food, cat litter, and pet beds and carriers.

Visit FloridaRevenue.com/DisasterPrep for a complete list.

LWR CERT Team 26 prepared for the 2022 Hurricane Season with a team meeting at Town Hall Tuesday, May 31. Led by Team Captain Connie Farmer, discussions included activation procedures, members availabilities to activate, possible use of multiple locations for team kit bins due to distance between team members and neighborhoods within the team's coverage area, and new SOP procedures discussed at the TC Workshop. Attending were Bill Martin (left), Marty Saia, Mollie Saia, Dave Forgash, Team Captain Connie Farmer, Dennis Johnson, Judy Johnson, Backup Team Captain George Jenckes, Karen Emanuelson and Jim Emanuelson. While they hope to not have to activate, Team 26 is ready, should the need arise.

Happy June birthday to members Maria Ade, Jeffrey Artz, Carole Bernard, Mel Davis, Bob Donato, Jim Emanuelson, Doug Feingold, Kris Hoekman, Irene Jimenez, Gary Miller, David Mills, Kalena Ostrosky, Tim Sherer, and Jeff Tryon.

Training Assistance - Thanks to Bud Goetzinger for arranging a private consultation for LWR CERT leadership with Dr. Kevin Moore, Founding Partner at Tier1 Performance. Dr. Moore shared many ideas that attendees will look at implementing into LWR CERT Basic Training and Skills Refresher courses.

Radio Communications Committee - Steve Park, President of the Manatee County Emergency Support Group, attended April's Radio Communications Committee meeting. They discussed how ARES, the Emergency Operations Center, and LWR CERT interact and the reporting process for Emergency, Priority, Welfare and Routine messages.

New Radio Hub - Thanks to Sebastian Ilka who has stepped up to serve as our new Hub 2 Operator. Teams 20, 21, 22, and 26 will radio messages to Sebastian during activations.

New Medical Advisor - Dr. Ed Bradley has agreed to serve as the LWR CERT Medical Advisor. A resident of LWR, Dr. Bradley has held professional and academic appointments at the University of Miami School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and the State University of New York at Buffalo and most recently as Education Director for Surgery at Florida State University. Thanks to Donna and Bob Donato for assisting with Dr. Bradley's orientation to LWR CERT.

Preparing for Hurricane Season with EMFR - President Jim Emanuelson and Radio Communications Committee Manager Bud Goetzinger met with East Manatee Fire Rescue's Deputy Chief Will Hall to discuss strategies for efficient radio communications during activations.

Preparing for Hurricane Season with IDA - President Jim Emanuelson and Vice President Dave Cashbaugh met with IDA Executive Director Steve Zielinski, IDA Director of Operations Tom Merrell, and IDA Assistant Director of Operations Edgar Perez to discuss storm protocols. LWR CERT and IDA work closely to coordinate a response after a disaster, such as a hurricane, and are preparing for the 2022 Hurricane Season.

ECRN Test - LWR CERT conducted a successful test of our Emergency Radio Communications Network (ERCN) on May 24 with our hubs, EMFR, and IDA participating.

Volunteer Reception Center - Nigel Pilling attended a county-wide meeting where they discussed setting up a Manatee County Volunteer Reception Center to accommodate unaffiliated volunteers who may come into an affected area to assist with relief efforts.

Ride Along - Nigel Pilling and Bud Goetzinger spent May 17 riding along with Sarasota County Fire Department's Battalion Chief Miguel Garcia. This was an opportunity to gain some insights to a typical day and learn about the Fire Department operations and to educate SCFD personnel about CERT and its partnership role. In addition, there was an opportunity to tour the Sarasota County Emergency Operations Center. They will bring their lessons back to LWR CERT leadership and team.

Books for Kids - The Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch donated a book in the name of LWR CERT to a local school as as an expression of their appreciation for the recent Hurricane Prep presentation Pat Knowles and Mike Defferding provided to their membership. Thank you, Rotary Club! If you would like a Hurricane Prep presentation for your organization, email us at cert@lwrcert.org.

Activation Exercise - The Operations Committee is preparing an organization-wide activation exercise with a simulated storm arrival sometime in August.

Shop at Smile.Amazon.com, and Amazon can donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to LWR CERT, at no cost to you.

New to Amazon Smile? Just click the graphic on the right and follow the prompts.

Already a Smile Amazon user and want to change your charity of choice to LWR CERT? Sign in to smile.amazon.com on your desktop. On the left side of the page, click the down arrow next to “Supporting”, then select “Change” next to the charity name. Search for and select “Lakewood Ranch Community Emergency Response Team Inc.”