Florida In-plants Prepare for Hurricane Irma
As Hurricane Irma approaches Florida with 150-MPH winds, in-plants are preparing for the worst. John D.L. Johnson, manager of the Palm Beach County Graphics Division, updated IPG on his in-plant's preparations for the storm and its aftermath. Based on past hurricane experience, he's confident his building will hold up.
John D.L. Johnson, manager of the Graphics Division of Palm Beach County government’s Public Affairs Department.
"We feel that our building is quite strong as it was originally a pumping station for the Water Department and built to withstand such storms," he told IPG, via email. "All of our windows are hurricane-rated glass. Our electrical supply is hardened directly to the power grid that runs along our street. We have weathered hurricanes Jeanne, Francis, Wilma and Mathew with little damage and short electrical outages."
But surviving the storm isn't the in-plant's only duty; it will be actively involved in Palm Beach County's recovery and relief efforts.
"In anticipation of the storm, we printed up a batch of 1,200 'Storm Damage Hurricane Irma Emergency Repair Permit Applications' [three-part carbonless forms] for our Planning Zoning & Building Department," he noted. Johnson and his staff will be on call in support of the Emergency Operations Center after the storm.
"Our disaster assignment is to Graphics once the storm is over and it is safe to travel to work," he said. "After previous storms we have needed to print FEMA forms, boil water notices, maps, signs, etc. We are prepared to do all of these and more this time."
The shop closed yesterday at 3:00 and will not reopen until after the worst has passed.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
