County upgrades plans and systems for hurricane season

Palm Coast Observer
News

It only takes one, Flagler County Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord tells people who ask him how busy he thinks the upcoming hurricane season will be.

'Evacuate tens of miles, not hundreds of miles'

If you're in an evacuation zone and are ordered to evacuate for a hurricane, "We encourage people to evacuate tens of miles, not hundreds of miles," Flagler County Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord said. "Orlando — it’s not necessarily the worst place to evacuate there."

That can beat evacuating to Georgia or North Carolina, Lord said, because a storm might change direction and end up in those states anyhow, and Florida has a stronger building code than the other states do.

Going inland to a location away from water, then, is a better bet.

Evacuation zones, he noted, are based on danger from storm surge — the major killer when it comes to hurricanes in the U.S. — not wind.

For people who do decide to evacuate, Lord said, it's a good idea to plan ahead to have multiple routes, in case one becomes blocked, and to be able to access them offline. And, he said, make sure to have a plan for any pets.

"It can be the quietest season ever in the history of hurricanes, and if that one storm comes to Flagler County, it’s obviously a very big issue for us," he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's prediction is for four to eight hurricanes, and a total of nine to 15 named storms this hurricane season, which begins June 1. And we got one early: This year's first storm was Subtropical Storm Andrea, which formed the night of May 20 and dissipated soon after. It's the fifth year in a a row that a storm was named before the start of hurricane season.

Since Hurricane Irma swiped Flagler's flank in 2017, flooding the coastal areas and land near Crescent Lake, the county has made a number of changes to its emergency management, some still in progress.

It's developing a list of transportation-challenged residents, to complement its list of residents with special medical needs. That way, people who need help getting to a shelter can be taken there by public transportation.

TAX HOLIDAY BEGINS

Florida's Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday starts on Friday, May 31, and ends on Thursday, June 6.

The following items are eligible, according to the Florida Department of Revenue:

Selling for $10 or less:

Reusable ice packs

For $20 or less:

Any portable self-powered light source (flashlights, lanterns, candles), powered by battery, solar, hand-crank, or gas

For $25 or less:

Gas or diesel fuel containers, including LP gas and kerosene containers

For $30 or less:

Batteries, including rechargeable ones, listed sizes only (excluding automobile and boat batteries): AAA-cell, C-cell, 6-volt, AA-cell, D-cell, 9-volt

For $50 or less:

Bungee cords
Ground anchor systems
Two-way or weather band radios (powered by battery, solar, or hand-crank)
Ratchet straps
Tarpaulins (tarps)
Tie-down kits
Visqueen, plastic sheeting, plastic drop cloths, and other exible waterproof sheeting

For $750 or less:

Portable generators for providing light or communications, or to preserve food

For more details, see the full fact sheet at https://bit.ly/2w3rOdr.

It's preparing to be able to accept pets at a special needs shelter, so individuals with special medical concerns don't try to ride out a storm in an evacuation zone because they don't have someplace to go that will accommodate their pets.

It's doubled the number of volunteers at the county's Emergency Operation Center, each of them providing a minimum of four hours of service a week.

It's developed a plan to create "comfort stations" for the public, so that if there are delays in getting power returned after a storm, people can come and relax in the air conditioning, make a phone call, and — if possible — access the Internet.

It's sending every new county government employee through a brief disaster preparedness class, as well as an incident command training class.

"We’ve given them at least the knowledge to prepare their families, so when they’re coming to work they’re at least comfortable that their families are taken care of," Lord said.

The county has also revived its 30-hour Community Emergency Response Team training class, and has trained more than 100 people over the last year, teaching first aid, basic search and rescue, fire safety, mental health safety and disaster preparedness. (For information on CERT training, see https://bit.ly/2W1naHl).

It's also in the process of upgrading its emergency radio system so that first responders will have better communication ability. That transition will be completed in the next few months.

And it's preparing to test its amateur VHF radio equipment to ensure that it can communicate if towers are damaged. County Emergency Management Technician Bob Pickering showed off the county's amateur radio to reporters May 24.

"I like to read about the problems with some of these really big tropical cyclones — Michael was akin to a Camille, or even approaching the strength of an Andrew," Pickering said. "And there will be more storms like those. And so I'm always trying to think, What happens if something like that hits here? What can we do?"

BEFORE THE STORM

National recommendations suggest keeping three to five days of food, water and supplies on hand for an emergency (plus plenty of cash), but Flagler County Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord thinks that's not enough, given how long it can take to get power back after a storm: He suggests five to seven days.

He also encourages residents to think about their medical needs early, and make sure they have enough of any medications ahead of time, so they don't run out while pharmacies are closed and roads impassable.

Pets are another consideration: In addition to keeping enough food, water and medicine for them, Lord said, residents who want to take their pet to a pet-friendly shelter will need to be able to provide proof that their pet's vaccinations are up to date. Pets also need to have a crate or cage.

Meanwhile, the state has rolled out a new, computer-based emergency management system that has been implemented in every county. Called WebEOC, it can be used both for coordination within the county and between the county and the state, easing the process of applying for state assistance.

"It will definitely help us with getting support when we need it from outside Flagler County," Lord said.

Flagler County will try it out in a mock exercise at the Emergency Operations Center in late June. And several weeks ago, the county took part in a joint hurricane preparedness exercise with the state.

Lord urged residents not to become complacent when it comes to preparing.

"A lot of residents that I've met will say they went through a Category 3 or 4 storm in Irma and Matthew," Lord said. "While those storms were those categories at some point in time, they were less than Category 1 impacts in our county. I don't want anything beyond that in this community; that's not realistic. ... At some point in time Flagler County is going to get a larger storm, and the better our community is prepared, residents and businesses the better our government is prepared, we can recover and get the community back to normal."