Floridians Saved From Irma’s Wrath by Obama’s Solar Panels

Hurricane Irma knocked out the power while residents of the Florida town of Titusville sought shelter inside Apollo Elementary School. But there remained a source of electricity in Classroom 408, thanks to an economic stimulus program set in motion by President Barack Obama in his first days in office.

Each Election Day, the school serves as the polling place for Precinct 112, a district in Brevard County—where 65 percent of the voters chose Donald Trump. Some of those same people returned to Apollo as temporary refugees 10 months later and lined up at the classroom to charge their cellphones and pour themselves a cup of hot coffee.

They did not likely offer thanks to Obama for the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which funded such public projects as the $10 million UCF Florida Solar Energy Center program to create SunSmart E-Shelters in 115 schools. Each E-Shelter provides enough power to charge a battery and provide limited emergency lighting and power outlets in one of the classrooms.

“We had one popular classroom,” Apollo principal Frank O’Leary said of aftermath of Irma. “People were lined up.” Read more…