By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

Scott Langill knows exactly what his parents are going through.

“Basically it’s just setting up the house, putting all the shutters up, getting all the equipment, food and supplies to go through the hurricane,” he said. “It’s just kind of weird not being home because usually when I’m home, I set up all the shutters and I help get gas and get all the generators and everything ready.”

“Since I’m here, they just call me and tell me what’s going on.”

Langill, a junior defensive back on Missouri Southern’s football team, is from West Palm Beach, Fla. He’s been watching television this week as Tropical Storm Fay drenched Florida.

“I watch The Weather Channel, and all they’re talking about is my home town, West Palm Beach, Fla., ... Florida, hurricane news,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything to me here, but I’m like man, when I was home, that’s all we used to watch. Now they just tell me what’s going on. There’s nothing you can really do, just wait.”

The Lions’ Richard Williams, a linebacker from Port St. Lucie, Fla., talked to his parents and learned damage to their home included some missing shingles and debris from trees.

According to an Associated Press report, watched reached depths of five feet in some neighborhoods from Port St. Lucie to Cape Canaveral.

“There’s a lot of water,” Williams said. “They said it was flooded. They shut down schools. It started back up (Thursday) actually. It was a lot of rain, but it wasn’t as bad as everybody thought it would be.”

And, as usual, there was a blackout.

“We expect for there to be a blackout,” Williams said. “Usually there is a blackout for three or four days. My brother said they only had two days of blackout, so we didn’t have to bring out the generator.”