The Last Word | Calm During the Storm

By Ruth Ravitz Smith ’83

Hope, Opportunity, Obligation and Democracy. Meaningful words, aren’t they? How do you apply them in your life?

I think I was first exposed to the concept of serving others when then-Second Lady Barbara Bush spoke at my Hood graduation in 1983. But perhaps it was just intuitive for me. I have spent a significant amount of my career in public service. As a Hood student, I interned for the Frederick County government and for my congressman. After graduation, I worked full-time on Capitol Hill, and later in my career, I ran the State of Connecticut’s Washington, D.C., office. Away from work, I have always been an active volunteer.

SMITH WORKING IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER AND SPEAKING TO STATE SENATOR MICHAEL LEE

In 2015, I left Washington to live in a community where I always felt I belonged, a place I had been visiting since the late ’80s. A job opened up in Wilmington, North Carolina, that seemed to be just perfect for me; I became the chief communications officer for New Hanover County.

It wasn’t a month after I started my new job that I learned what it meant when I agreed to serve in the role and have emergency responsibilities. I jumped right into lead emergency communications as Hurricane Joaquin dumped 14 inches of rain on our area. And then again in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew impacted our area and managed to drop a large branch on my car and total it.

Then there was Hurricane Florence. … We started prepping for the storm on Sept. 9, just as the Jewish New Year observances were beginning. I mentioned to my Rabbi that this might be a different year for me—little did I know what we were in for during the coming weeks.

County employees are assigned to a variety of roles during emergency situations. We are very fortunate to have a team of talented, well-trained communications professionals who will staff what we call the Joint Information Center (JIC). While many of our families were evacuating, we were packing and moving into our Government Center office building hoping that we’d be able to get home shortly after the storm passed.

The week before the storm was one of great stress. I couldn’t convince my husband to take the cats and evacuate inland, so we stocked the house with supplies, and he thankfully ran out to get me a new air mattress to take to my office.

I set up my office as comfortably as I could—air mattress, Hood College blanket, lanterns, phone chargers, etc. As the storm came in, I must be honest and say it was the first time in three years that I didn’t complain about not having a window in my office (now referred to as my “room” having spent five nights sleeping there).

My job was one of problem solver, but it also became one of “ambassador” in a way. As a member of the senior leadership team, it became clear to me that just walking around and checking on colleagues—thanking them, asking how their families were doing, and smiling—was exactly what people needed. In essence, it was a version of the “Hood Hello” that made folks feel good.

In the Emergency Operations Center, I was assisting the JIC team in monitoring the storm, fielding calls from reporters from all over the world and developing messaging to help keep the community informed. With power and cable out in most of our community, and many residents evacuated to other areas, we found that a daily Facebook live briefing was the best way to communicate. Our elected chair of the Board of Commissioners and our county manager were able to conduct the briefing each day and were often joined by other officials including the mayor of the City of Wilmington.

SCENE FROM WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA DURING HURRICANE FLORENCE.

Today, our community is recovering. Our schools, restaurants and hotels are back open. And while there is storm debris yet to be removed, the warm spirit of Wilmington has returned.

For me, one of the biggest take-aways of working for 20 straight days was to keep smiling. It wasn’t always easy, but it was important. And to quote a famous Wilmingtonian, President Woodrow Wilson—“There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”

Ruth Ravitz Smith '83 served as the chief communications officer for New Hanover County until Dc. 31, 2018.