The Red Cross and the Hernando County Emergency Management have been attempting to coordinate with the Ridge Manor Community Center to open as a shelter through the weekend, giving residents in the Ridge Manor area a place to take refuge close to their homes as has occurred in past disasters.
While a representative with the Red Cross says that it still may be possible to coordinate the use of the facility as a shelter through the property management and the county, Rick Fraker on the Ridge Manor Community Center board says that prior commitments over the weekend are problematic. The Hernando County EOC would like to use the facility through the weekend and the community center management have already rented out the facility. Public Information Officer Virginia Singer states, “Unless the Ridge Manor Community Center becomes available to us for a consistent amount of time, we cannot utilize it. So we are continuing to shelter at the Enrichment Center.”
Fraker says there is a karate convention as well as a quinceanera planned over Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Enrichment Center shelter at 800 John Gary Grubbs Blvd. in Brooksville is operating as a shelter for displaced individuals. If the Ridge Manor Community Center opens as a shelter location, then the Enrichment Center shelter will close.