Hurricane season began June 1st and everyone needs to know special actions/precautions, which must be taken in the event of a hurricane. The following is a general summary of actions, which must be understood.

Venetia Condominium is in an evacuation zone and if an evacuation order is issued, all residents and employees must leave the building. If anyone stays in the building, he/she DOES SO AT HIS/HER OWN RISK and may not be able to leave at a later time because of a loss of electric power and/or elevator service. Management will use its best efforts to notify residents of the issuance of such an order.

We want to inform you of this building’s policy in the event of a hurricane. These policies and procedures combine the hurricane procedures recommended for your building by the Continental Group with your Board’s decisions.

Our management office has printed materials concerning action/safety precautions to be taken now and if a hurricane approaches our area. Please pick up a copy in the Front Desk. This information should be reviewed NOW.

Each resident is responsible for clearing all plants, furniture and items from their balcony and securing hurricane shutters in preparation for a storm. The Association staff will be busy securing the common areas of the building and will not be able to take care of the residential balconies. If your balcony is not properly prepared and staff is forced to clear it in your absence, an automatic $300.00 charge will be assessed for the emergency service. Although, the Association will attempt to remove your items, if the residents are unable to do it, in no case will the Association, Continental Management, or Staff be responsible for any damages caused, if the items are not removed.

For those who are leaving the area and their units for any length of time during hurricane season, please take your balcony items in and perhaps even close your storm shutters before leaving. Plywood or any unauthorized temporary shutter systems are strictly prohibited.

Continental has a responsibility and a protocol to safeguard the residents, the employees and the mechanical equipment during a storm based on our knowledge and experience.

We want to explain the storm factors that could damage pump motors and electrical components in your building. The procedures are documented and communicated to our managers as a recommendation of what should be followed in each building as the most effective and conservative approach to protecting your building’s systems under the effects of a storm. The protocol is general in its approach but offers the greatest chance of protecting the mechanical equipment in any building. Your protocol has been specifically tailored to your building in cooperation with your Board; in as far as each building is to some degree different from others in terms of mechanical design and component variations. These variations are building specific and cannot be generalized to all properties.

The protocol for safe-guarding the mechanical equipment is set into motion at the time when a hurricane warning is issued to your geographical area and starts with the least necessary equipment leaving the most indispensable equipment for last.

At the time of a Hurricane Watch – a hurricane may threaten the area within 36 hours – we begin securing the building. The specific details for your property can be found in the “On Site Hurricane Preparation Manual” which is site specific to your building and which has been approved by the Board of Directors.

When a Hurricane Warning – hurricane force winds are expected to make landfall within 24 hours – has been issued and after all preparations have been completed, non-essential personnel, under the direction of the manager, will leave at the end of their shifts. Typically, a mandatory evacuation order is also announced at this time in all coastal areas. This mandatory evacuation creates a critical time frame in which the staff must execute the final mechanical protocols before the storm actually reaches your building.

The essential personnel – manager, engineer, and front desk staff – will remain at your property maintaining building services and assisting residents as they follow the mandatory evacuation order. When sustained winds reach 45 mph and the hurricane continues to be an imminent threat, the essential personnel, in agreement with the Board of directors, will begin to shut down the property’s four main mechanical systems- elevators, HVAC equipment, domestic water pumps and pool equipment. This helps to assure that your systems will not be damaged as a result of operating during the storm and will be operational after conditions return to normal and power has been restored. After the shut down has been completed, our essential personnel will follow the mandatory evacuation order issued by the appropriate governmental agency and leave the property.

TCG will not require or encourage any employee to remain on the property in violation of an evacuation order.

Any employee remaining at the property, at the request of the Board, after this shut down, is required to accept the terms of and sign a waiver form provided by Continental. Board signature is also required on the waiver.

Essential employees will return to your property as soon as physically possible after sustained winds have dropped below 45 mph and an all clear has been issued.

All other employees are required to report back to your property at daybreak and when sustained winds have dropped below 35 mph.

Employees will have the option of using any available sick time to be compensated for any time missed due to a mandatory evacuation.

The four main mechanical building components that affect the entire building and should be protected are the elevators, HVAC equipment, domestic water pumps, and the pool equipment.

ELEVATORS:

The elevators should be parked on the upper floors of the building with the doors closed. (The highest possible floor is recommended by the elevator companies).

Pull disconnect switch in the machine room in the off position before power fails.

Close up all vents and openings at the top of the hoist way to prevent water from getting into the elevator shaft and secure door to elevator room so that it does not fly open.

WHY:

In the event of a coastal surge, flooding will damage the elevators and fill the pits. In addition to flooding, water damage caused by wind driven rain most likely will enter the shaft and ruin the electrical equipment on top of the cars. This kind of damage will render a building immobile for a long period of time while the elevator company repairs the equipment.

If the elevators are running and the power is interrupted, residents may be stuck inside the cabs for long periods of time. Evidence has shown that many people suffer anxiety or heart attacks in these situations. Emergency crews may not be able to respond to 911 calls under hurricane conditions.

HVAC EQUIPMENT:

Turn off power to the cooling towers and pump motors by turning off all breakers on panel to the circulating pumps.

WHY:

The cooling towers pump motors may burn up due to lack of water circulation. Water circulation stops due to low water pressure from the city, which occurs frequently during hurricanes.

Loss of electrical power will cause pumping stations to loose pressure. Electrical surges during the storm may also damage the pumps.

Wind pressure blows water out of the cooling tower faster than it can be replaced.

Most HVAC systems in recently built buildings use PVC pipes. These pipes are located on the roof and can break in the event a wind driven object hits or falls on the pipes. Once the pipes break and water is lost out of the system, the motors can burn out.

Condenser water pump motors are expensive and must be ordered by the HVAC contractor once they fail. Depending on availability one to several weeks of down time can be expected for repairs. The Board may wish to purchase extra motors to be used for quicker replacement should they decide to leave the equipment running.

DOMESTIC WATER PUMPS

Staff will turn off power to the domestic water pumps. (Buildings that are equipped with staged water pumps may consider leaving one pump on manual override if the pressure is sufficient for the upper floors.)

WHY:

Loss of electrical power will cause pumping stations to loose pressure. If not enough water reaches the pumps, they may burn out.

POOL EQUIPMENT

Staff will turn off power to the pool equipment and lower the water level in the pools and Jacuzzis.

WHY:

Loss of electrical power will cause pumps to loose pressure. If not enough water reaches the pumps, they may burn out. The chemical feeders will also shut down, causing chemical imbalances in the pools. Debris will be driven in the pool, clogging filters.

There are other sections of the building that must be secured but do not create as much dispute as the A/C, water, and the elevators, such as garage doors which should be left in locked open position and other items in a check list that is available to all managers to follow as a guideline so that all aspects of the building are inspected prior to the impact of the hurricane. NOTE: We do NOT ever shut off electricity to the building.