Step-Up program hires, trains and mentors sometimes troubled individuals Real-time tides, water levels available online
FORT LAUDERDALE — After the historic New River Inn got clobbered by Hurricane Irma, it needed help coming back to life. It got it from a group of men and women looking to rebuild their own lives.
Irma’s flood waters seeped under Broward County’s oldest surviving hotel structure, built in 1905 on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Wood joists rotted, and floor boards buckled.
To repair the damage, Executive Director Patricia Zeiler sought help from the Step-Up Apprentice Program of the Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority. The two-year program hires, trains and mentors sometimes-troubled individuals seeking credentials in building maintenance as well as their high school equivalency certificates.
In this case, they experienced much more.
The New River Inn project gave them the opportunity to work on wood floors from the 1900s, learning construction techniques from pioneer times. They spent weeks searching the state for vintage flooring to match the color and character of the flooring.
Real-time currents, water levels, rising tides and other oceanographic information is now available to the public after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, aka NOAA, installed an advance sensor device in Port Everglades.
The information provided by the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System, or PORTS, will give live information on incoming storms, rising tides, climate change and overall sea-level rise. The equipment also will give boaters and vessel operators the “real-time tide and weather information they need to help them navigate these waters more safely and efficiently,” said Richard Ewing, director of NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.
Access the real-time data through Port Everglades’ website, PortEverglades.net (look at the top of the page under “Tides & Currents”), or via phone at