Last Updated on September 9, 2019 by Gardens Home Management Services

Good Morning!!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.  This is my final email and update regarding Hurricane Dorian. It is my hope that I do not have to start sending updates regarding any other storms this season but if the need arises we will be there to take care of your home and communicate with you.  I hope you found our communications helpful in our quest to give you peace of mind and keep you in the know .

All homes that we needed to opened  have been opened and we have completed all our post inspections of homes . We will be resuming normal operations this upcoming week . This means you will be back on the normal home watch schedule if you are a home watch customer.  Handyman will be out taking care of requests and performing work orders on normal maintenance. If there is something we missed with your home please let us know and we will be happy to get resolved for you .

With regard to the storm I am proud of my team and how they rose to the occasion. Even though the storm did not ultimately hit us we were prepared, organized and set up for the task at hand. It was still a bit of controlled chaos but we were organized enough that we were able to take care of things. Back in June we spent over 300 labor hours to organize, put in work orders, schedule ahead of time so crews would be efficient etc etc.  This is what made the difference for us.  Also being signed up on our hurricane program which you all were made the difference in our planning. So if you were ever wondering what the hurricane program fee was for this is it. We closed up 100% of our clients that were on our hurricane list.  We now need to reset and put all the work orders back in so if another storm hits we are prepared and ready to roll which we will be.

We need to work on some better scheduling on our part and being more detailed on our work orders to the crews so there is no lost time in between jobs and the crews have more information on your home. This is being taken care of as we speak.

I want to thank everyone for there communications. Technology  has been helpful and emails that were received for requests were helpful as we could respond quicker than the phone calls that were coming into our office. I am not saying do not call us but for simple questions and requests emails are great as we can respond quicker.

One issue we could use your help with is how some of our communities do not allow shutters to be put up until a hurricane watch is in place. This inhibits us and makes things very difficult. I understand communities do not want communities looking like ghost towns but they should be a bit more lenient here. If there are storms looming in the Atlantic and when our area is in the cone they should allow shutters to be closed.  This may be 5 to 6 days out but it makes sense. Then if storm does not hit they should be opened 5 to 6 days later. Not allowing us to put shutters up with only 2 to 3 days before a storm makes the job much harder and ends up costing you more money.  It is your voice to your community leaders that will help here where it applies.

My heart does go out to the residents of the Abacos. The devastation is tremendous and gut wrenching.  There are many sites out there to donate to which I encourage you to participate in.  On a personal note this is where my family and I would vacation during the summer and have for many years. The home we used to rent is not even there anymore along with every other structure .  It just saddens me and also makes me realize the power of mother nature and how we need to be prepared and cannot take this all to lightly.

In closing I am hoping and praying for the rest of the hurricane season to be quiet. Thanks again for the trust you have put in my company watching over your home

Thanks

Chip