Ralph Intorcio didn't hear the police loudspeaker instructing everyone to evacuate his neighborhood before a severe storm last summer, because he is practically deaf.

Later that day the storm tossed a neighbor's trailer roof in front of Intorcio's patio. He photographed it from his living room.

Scenarios like this are why Intorcio and the Hearing Loss Association of Sarasota (HLAS) work to better enable the estimated 85,000 Manasota residents with hearing impairment.

It is a support group, educational resource and advocate for the hearing-impaired.

"When you first lose hearing you tend to go into your shell, think there's nobody else like you," said Intorcio, HLAS vice president. "You tend to just watch TV, read the newspaper."

The group was known until very recently as Self-Help for Hard of Hearing People, or SHHH. It works alongside like-minded groups like the Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

At monthly meetings, members address anything from communication techniques and hearing aid technology, or vent daily frustrations their impairment provokes.

Deafness does not prevent members like Intorcio, 79, from leading independent, active lives, but provides obstacles to common social and business interactions.

Technology alleviates only some of the hassles hearing loss brings.

Hearing aids are ineffective anywhere there is background noise. Restaurants, cars and street conversations render the devices useless for conversation.

A telephone caption service enables Intorcio to communicate over the phone, but is too slow to be useful with automated answering services employed by many medical offices.

HLAS is planning a basic computer skills class to orient members with e-mail, a casual communication medium many members prefer to the telephone.

The group ensures FCC television captioning regulations are enforced.

It organizes monthly captioned movie screenings at Hollywood 20 and captioned play viewings at theaters throughout Sarasota.

Health meetings planned for April

A series of community health planning meetings will be held during April for residents of South County and western Charlotte County.

The Community Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP), which is comprised of local health departments, hospitals, nonprofit organizations and funding organizations, is the coordinating entity. Three community groups, called Community Health