Hispanics in Naples Cite Lack of Spanish Information About Wilma

November 2, 2005

Hispanics in areas of Florida hit by Hurricane Wilma report a lack of directions and information in Spanish to assist them in preparing for a hurricane, telling them what to do and where to go when a hurricane is approaching Florida.

Rocio Ayala, who has lived in Naples for many years, told the Naples Sun-Times that when Wilma was approaching Florida's west coast she was "seriously concerned" about her safety and desperate for information in Spanish.

She said she was unsure about when Wilma was expected, Should she go to a shelter? Was it safe to stay in her Naples Park home? After she heard on TV about the mandatory evacuation for people west of US 41, and wanting to know the location of the shelters, she called a friend. Her friend knew the closest shelter was Gulf Coast High School, so they drove to the school only to find it closed.

They had missed the report telling people Hurricane Wilma had slowed down and was not expected to make landfall until Sunday night or Monday morning.

They drove to Golden Gate Library. Perhaps, they thought, if the library was located in the middle of an area highly populated by Hispanics, they would find a sign in Spanish notifying the public of shelter locations and when they would be open to the public. But the library was already closed and the only sign there was asking people not to return items. Finally, after a few calls to friends, they got the Emergency Management phone number where they were told, in Spanish, that the shelters would open Sunday morning (Oct. 23).

Next day, at the shelter, Ayala said things seemed easier. There were signs posted on the walls, explaining the shelter regulations in Spanish, and Hispanic Red Cross volunteers helped out with translations.

When Wilma was forecasted, María Galicia told the Sun-Times she made a due trip to the grocery store to buy food and water, batteries and over-the-counter remedies for her daughters. She also packed a suitcase with the essentials. After six years living in Naples she has gathered key information on hurricane preparedness from radio stations, Hispanic newspapers and TV channels.

At the beginning of this year's season, EM teamed up with the Red Cross local chapter to offer, for the first time ever, seminars in Spanish about hurricanes. The information Hispanic people have about hurricanes comes from seminars, printed booklets in Spanish, TV and newspapers.

EM also set up a translator device on its Web site. The problem is, translation software never interprets a language, it translates word by word. The result doesn't make much sense, like in the case of Dan Summers' name, which was translated into Spanish and became the equivalent to "the summer of Dan."

"At first, we decided to stay, but on Sunday, when it became clear that Wilma was hitting Naples, we headed north, to Orlando, where we have relatives," Galicia said.

Galicia is one of many Hispanics who don't have access to the Internet at home, she doesn't own a computer. Her best source of information about the hurricane was the TV, but Galicia is not fully proficient in English.

"I watched the Weather Channel but there were things that I didn't understand," Galicia said. Sometimes I needed to look for a word in the dictionary but then I lost the rest of the news while I looked for it. The best for me was a local channel that offered information in Spanish."

There is only one daily program in Spanish on local TV and two Spanish radio stations on FM. After the hurricane, when most people in town lost power, the TV and the radio stations could not reach their audience. Although several printed media in Spanish circulate throughout Collier, none are a daily.