(Continued from page 24) several hundred.
Law enforcement ocials repeatedly searched seemingly vacant properes; they searched storage units and crawlspaces, knocked on doors oen requesng to search the house. They did not stroll up the driveways with their hands at their sides. They oen approached from several direcons around the house with automac weapons ready. This was the atmosphere every day. It was truly harrowing.
By early evening on Thursday, September 18, we experienced the rst full impact. The entrance to The Hamlet was blocked by troopers, giving a “shelterinplace” order. Each lockout, each shelterinplace order was not a suggeson, it was a command, supported by armed ocers at the entrance and along township roads. This was shocking to us and well outside of our experience or expectaons.
By the next day, Friday, September 19, the search had become very intense and that night a shelterinplace was ordered which lasted nearly 24 hours. Families were separated; pets le on their own – owners with several dogs were panicked, caretakers were kept from their charge.
Our property manager, Amy Janiszewski, CMCA, AMS, PCAM of Preferred Management, was quickly able to establish and maintain communicaon with outside sources, including ranking state troopers, to get important updates and informaon to most residents. At this point, it was a blessing that she does not live in the immediate area of The Hamlet.
Amy instructed the clubhouse manager on Thursday to close up and get to a resident’s home. He did this as the troopers were pouring into the clubhouse area. The clubhouse did not open again for three weeks. Units were staoned at the clubhouse and eventually the vice president of the board opened the clubhouse to them when she found that several ocers were sleeping in a truck. There were more than 1,000 law enforcement ocers in the area, from all over the country. There were few hotel rooms to be had.
We provided a place for ocers to rest, shower, and have hot food. Residents
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braved the danger lurking in the woods to take food and personal supplies to the ocers the enre me. The percepon of danger in the woods was very real; it kept people o the streets and certainly o of the forest trails. Concern about the overwhelming number of heavily armed law enforcement was certainly part of the fear for some.
One homeowner was locked out for more than 20 hours from his elderly bedridden mother. He called the manager, Amy, and said the police at the entrance would not hear his concern. She was able to get to her contact and get him into his home. Using residents’ emails and phone numbers, Amy kept us informed and in touch with each other.
Another board ocer had taken his family out of the area for a planned trip. As he received informaon from news, social media, and the property manager, he returned in the middle of a 24hour lockout to help. He went to the shelter set up at the rehouse where several Hamlet residents had gone. Others remained parked near the blocked roads, or at nearby restaurants and churches. No one had any idea how long this would last.
He found that the shelter had only chairs and some food, while people were sleeping in their cars in front of the rehouse. He aempted to encourage those in charge to bring the cots in that they admied they had, and to help the “homeless” to nd a safe place.
There was another shelterinplace two days later for several hours. Each unexpected event was accompanied by the problems of the inability to get medicaons and other essenals. Volunteers came forth to help neighbors get what they need; those in touch with neighbors who were locked out helped with pets when possible.
And then, the eye of search moved, and police acvity literally melted away.
Communicaon was and is the most important tool in any crisis. We couldn’t help or inform residents during a communitywide situaon if we couldn’t reach them. We learned to be reasonably aggressive about geng contact informaon, and encourage those who cannot provide an email
address to reach out to a neighbor who can keep them informed by phone. We increased our encouragement to people to check on their neighbors who may not be receiving informaon.
It is valuable to have a point person, who will, in any community emergency, be at the center of communicaon and informaon. For us, it was our property manager. It could be a specic board member or posion. That person might not be making decisions, but he or she needs to screen and disseminate informaon.
Maintaining good relaonships with the leaders in law enforcement and local municipal government is vital. One never knows when you will have to work together closely.
And our emergency plan is, once again, under construcon!
The community and its members are not much dierent since that experience. Aer telling each other their story, each life goes on. There is a sense of renewed appreciaon for our common areas. Some people now know neighbors they once only waved at.
The board and management are the ones who have felt the need for preparedness, and perhaps that’s as it should be. We’ll connue to urge residents to provide us with contact informaon, and to be vigilant.
I think no one believes that kind of thing could happen again.
I sure hope so. But, just in case, we’ll be prepared.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah E. Boyle, CPA, is a partner with member company Weseloh Carney & Co. Cered Public Accountants in East Stroudsburg, PA. She has spent forty years in public accounng and has lived at The Hamlet for the last 26 years, including serving for 14 years on the board of directors and serving as Board President.
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