He says damage was not what he expected
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: October 11, 2024
Host: First responders are in the spotlight right now. Ramon Lopez caught up with a firefighter in Nokomis.
Ramon Lopez: First responders with The Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department remains on duty in the wake of Hurricane Milton, but the damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton was not as severe as it could have been. Senior Nokomis firefighter John Lichtenstein — who just happens to be a big fan of WSLR radio — summarizes how things are going at the firehouse, and hard-hit Nokomis and Venice.
John Lichtenstein: Well, the winds were pretty high, but the damage is not what we expected. It was a lot less than what we prepared for. The surge wasn’t what we thought it was going to be, and we really, really, really dodged a bullet with this one. Could have been a lot worse. And we have to prepare because that one time that we don’t prepare is going to be the time that it really, really, really bites us.
Somebody said that there was only four feet of storm surge, but that’s still not … I have no idea how to scientifically measure what it 
was. I know the winds were pretty tremendous and we do have a lot of downed power lines, and we will not be sitting on power lines like we normally do. Only if there’s active fire, will we be standing by down power lines. Power is slowly being returned to the area and you just have to be patient and rely on your supplies that you have currently.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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