When hurricanes are on their way to the US coast, Jo-Anne Tucker-Zemlak, Synagogue Consultant for the Southeast Seaboard, is ready to assist, following her tried-and-true Storm Protocol. This hurricane season, with Gordon and Helene was no different. Her protocol was detailed and thorough. She first identified the areas that were in the path of the hurricanes, by calling every affiliated synagogue in the area. This season meant calling over 40 synagogues. She then compiled a spreadsheet of all the shuls and their status before and after the storms. Those that were in harm’s way received multiple calls offering any support. She made sure every affiliated synagogue heard from her before the storm, during, and after.
This year was different, the hurricanes were right at the same time as the High Holidays. For those that had to be evacuated she connected them with other congregations that opened their doors to the evacuees, by setting up a live Google doc with every open and safe shul. If synagogues on the East Coast of Florida had High Holidays seats, she made sure the evacuated shuls knew about them. Atlanta, Georgia, was also gracious about offering seats to the evacuated congregations.
After the hurricane, Jo-Anne got in touch with every impacted synagogue. A benefit of being an affiliated USCJ synagogue is that we have resources and aid to offer our whole network, especially those struck by disaster. Be it hurricane, wildfire, or flood, we are there for our shuls with a personal phone call and the support of our network.
Impacted Synagogues:
Congregation Bnai Israel, St. Petersburg
Temple Beth Sholom, Sarasota
Congregation Kol Ami, Tampa
Congregation Rodeph Sholom, Tampa
Congregation Beth Shalom, Clearwater
Beth Tikvah of Naples, Naples
Temple Judea, Ft. Meyers
