- Local nonprofit Lighthouse of the Big Bend held a Hurricane Preparedness Seminar.
- It gave tips on emergency transportation, insurance claims and supplies to neighbors who are visually impaired or blind.
- Watch the video to hear what the resources mean to these neighbors.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Making hurricane season preparations inclusive. I'm Kenya Cardonne, your Southeast Tallahassee neighborhood reporter. We are less than a month away from the start of 2025's hurricane season. One nonprofit in my neighborhood is making sure our visually impaired and blind neighbors aren't left in the dark.
Andrew Fryson Sr., Visually Impaired - "It's a fear that comes over you when you lose your eyesight, because you don't know what you face."
Vision loss hit Andrew Fryson Sr. in 2021.
A hurricane is scary as it is, but Fryson explains it's even scarier experiencing one when you're blind and can only rely on sound.
Fryson - "If I had my eyesight, 'oh man, that's where the wind is blowing because something is blowing over there.' But I can't do it now, I don't know how close I'm getting to it."
It's why he says he's thankful for Lighthouse of the Big Bend. It's a local nonprofit I've previously told you aboutthat dedicates resources to those in our community who are visually impaired or blind.
This time of year, LBB makes it a priority to give these neighbors the same hurricane preparedness resources that everyone else can easily access.
Debara Jump, Development Director at Lighthouse of the Big Bend - "Our clients, compared to other individuals in the community, have to do a lot more planning than you or I might have to do because they can't just get in their car and go somewhere."
I sat in on their Hurricane Preparedness Seminar, where several experts broke down key measures to start taking now, ahead of June 1st.
Fryson - "It's a lot of moving things that they enlightened me on that I can pick up on more, to don't take it for granted."
Things like emergency transportation to shelters with Star Metro, basic hurricane prep and resources with Tallahassee Neighborhood Affairs, and insurance tips for before and after a disaster.
Fryson - "I'm feeling a lot better now because I know, hey, I'm not just the only one going through this."
Fryson says it's one of many ways Lighthouse of the Big Bend eases the fear that comes with being blind.
Fryson - "It's so beneficial to us to let us know, we're still here, y'all still love us. Y'all didn't just kick us aside and say, 'Hey, alright, you're blind, now go.' Hey, we're still human too."
Clients also got to take home this hurricane prep bucket that has a few starter items and a checklist of other hurricane prep essentials to fill it with.
In Southeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27
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