As Hurricane Matthew was churning through the Bahamas and South Florida went on full hurricane alert, Broward County activated its 311 information line at the emergency operations center. Volunteer operators fielded calls ranging from the curious and the anxious to the angry.
One caller wondered whether his boss could require him to report to work.
"So it is totally at the discretion of the employer," operator Matthew — yes, Matthew — Eaton told the caller.
"I told him, I said, 'If you're not comfortable working, talk to your boss about it. Let him or her know that hey, I don't feel comfortable coming out. Maybe we can make some type of arrangement. I don't know.' "
At the next desk over, Fran Schoen was finishing her 10th call of the day, all on the same subject.
"More garbage being left around the street. People are putting out their bulk, which is like furniture and stuff like that," Schoen said. "And they think it's going to be picked up on the scheduled day, which is like Saturday, so they're putting it out today."
That, Schoen said, is not a good idea and recommended instead that people keep their items inside until after the storm passes.
