W&L 9/23/04

winners

MRES These “Meals Ready to Eat” are a hot commodity along the Gulf Coast. We love the variety — Beef Teriakyi , Pot Roast, Jambalya and Vegetable Manacotti. Each packet is an adventure. Our only regret is they make you wish for a porta-potty too quickly.

BOB RILEY The Alabama Governor is a hero for opening all four lanes to Interstate 65 for evacuation from Mobile and Northwest Florida. Thousands were able to flee the area before Hurricane Ivan made landfall. Maybe Riley will help Gov. Jeb Bush work on an I-65 connector for Northwest Florida?

DON PARKER The former Escambia County sheriff’s deputy and current WCOA radio personality helped keep tempers calm with his off-beat sense of humor and quick witted quips, while taking listeners sometimes bizarre calls. Caller: “Do you know anything about high schools?” Parker: “Well, I spent six years at Woodham.” Although WCOA went off air, its sister station Q100 was able to come back on and provide some levity.

GULF POWER The initial prediction for electricity restoration was that many people would sit in the dark and without A/C as long as six weeks. Instead, more than 70 percent of the area had power a week after Ivan. It was truly inspiring to see the utility crews, some from as far away as New Jersey, on the streets working all hours to get the lights on.

PORTOFINO The towering million dollar condominiums on Pensacola Beach survived Hurricane Ivan with little structural damage. It’s one more testimony to new building codes.

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losers

MAIN STREET SEWAGE PLANT This disaster by the bay helped reinforce Pensacolaís nickname, “Plopacola,” by failing during Hurricane Ivan and flooding a four-block area with untreated sludge. U.S. Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge was so concerned that he personally came to inspect the damage.

NEXTEL Nearly all law enforcement agencies in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties depend on Nextel for communications. Unfortunately, Nextel was out of service long after many other wireless services following Ivan. Officers could not use their phones when they needed them most, and temporarily used another service. Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby was so upset that he demanded Nextel send the CEO to remedy the problem. In the end, Nextel did agree to invest millions in the two counties to insure such critical communications stay up.

WEATHER CHANNEL If anyone catches these hysterical storm riders in Pensacola, please contact an officer. These so-called weather experts gave overblown reports on the conditions of the area before, during and after the storm. They repeatedly misnamed local landmarks and confused buildings that were under construction or already demolished with buildings that were actually damaged.

GARCON POINT BRIDGE Why did it take so long for this bridge to lift its toll during the evacuation? It wasn’t until 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, that the bridge removed the toll. We figure they wanted to drain the last dollar of anyone trying to get to work in Milton or Pace that morning before they focused on the evacuation. Let’s hope they drag their feet on reinstating the toll.