While last month’s hailstorm wreaked havoc in many beachside neighborhoods, for Melbourne Beach, the squall provided a true test of the town’s newest acquisition – a generator.
Public Works Supervisor Tom Davis said the price tag was $42,000, but well worth it after the March 27 hailstorm caused the town to lose power for a short time, more of a “blink” really. But the generator kicked on seamlessly.
“We can now fully operate the police department and every department within town hall from the power provided by the new generator,” Davis said. “Additionally, we now have full power to the room designated as our emergency ops center.”
Despite the power loss, no damage was reported to any town properties from the hailstorm and Public Works did not receive any reports from residents about damage.
“It was a true test of our generator,” Davis said. “We had a short power outage and the generator system responded with full power.”
With hurricane season fast approaching, generators can serve an important part of municipal emergency operations – and provide emergency personnel with habitable surroundings during a crisis.
Melbourne Beach Police Chief Melanie Griswold said the town hasn’t had a generator for two years, and because her department works around the clock during serious storms and hurricanes, she was thrilled when the new one arrived last month.
“It was put to the test last week during the hailstorm. We lost power for about 10 seconds when I heard the generator kick on,” Griswold said. “It is imperative that we have power in our building during a major storm or a hurricane. Other than the obvious that we are first responders and we provide a service 24/7 and we need to charge our radio pack sets, computers, FDLE requires it, fire department bay doors, etc.”
The new generator was placed in a new building created specifically to house it.
Now is the time for towns and cities across the beachside to make sure their generators are up and running properly.
Indian Harbour Beach Town Manager Mark Ryan said the city has two generators and replaced the back end of the city hall generator last year.
“It’s important for continuity of operations,” Ryan said.
In Indialantic, Mayor Dave Berkman said they replaced their generator two years ago. “We purchased a new large generator to power all of critical operations two years ago,” Berkman said. “It is a permanent fixture, tested once a month. We should have no gap in service in the event of a power loss.”