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Surviving the storm
Public involvement vital to county's plan
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 |
CLEARWATER – Pinellas County Emergency Management spent the hurricane off-season working on its plans for recovery, shelter and transportation.
“Katrina changed our approach,” said County Administrator Steve Spratt during Media Day June 1 at the Emergency Operation’s Center.
The worst-case scenario for Pinellas County would be a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall south of Tarpon Springs, Spratt said. The result would be a storm surge of 24.5 to 25 feet high. Oldsmar would be under water. Safety Harbor and other low-lying communities would be flooded and temporarily isolated until the water receded.
“We could expect to see Katrina-like damage,” Spratt said.
Despite all the publicity of the devastation caused by Katrina, too many people still are not taking the need to prepare seriously, Spratt said.
In a recent study by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., 45 percent said they would try to outrun a storm and 50 percent said they would defy an evacuation order, Spratt said.
Results from a Tampa Bay 2006 hurricane evacuation behavioral analysis showed that some people still say they would not evacuate or do not know if they would evacuate. In addition, Spratt said, the analysis showed that too many people do not have a hurricane plan.
“Too many believe they won’t be impacted by water and wind and won’t evacuate,” Spratt said.
The county’s theme for hurricane season is “Surviving the Storm. It’s Everyone’s Responsibility.”
“We’re as ready as we can be,” Spratt said. “But we can’t do it alone. We need the public’s help to be prepared and to follow orders.”
Gary Vickers, director of Emergency Management, outlined some of the changes to the county’s hurricane plan, including investing $20,000 for the ReadyAlert Emergency Notification System.
Vickers said the new community notification service allows people with any device that can receive a text message, such as a cell phone, to sign up to receive important emergency announcements. To sign up, call the toll-free number (888) 689-8905.
The free service will allow the county to communicate with residents when other forms of notification are not available, he said.
In addition, the county improved the communication system for the Citizen’s Information Center, which becomes active only during times of emergency.
The new Automated Call Distribution network provides a hold message that encourages people to stay on the line. Operators also received additional training. The CIC number is 464-4333.
Shelter space continues to be a problem, Vickers said. The estimated population of the county as of May was 1.008 million. A Category 5 storm would require the evacuation of about 572,240 county residents. Current shelter capacity is about 77,000.
Improved transportation plans to help more than 50,000 households without vehicles get to a public shelter or a host families’ residence include the use of 159 buses from the Pinellas County School District and 73 Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority buses.
People who need transportation assistance must register in advance by calling 464-3800. Vickers said the number of school buses allocated to each municipality was dependent on the number of people who are registered. He said it is important that anyone who needs help or knows of someone who needs help to call now.
Officials stressed that individual hurricane plans should not include using public shelters unless there is no place else to go. People should arrange to stay with host families in nonevacuation areas if possible.
Vickers encouraged businesses to get more involved to make sure employees had a safe place to stay. He said businesses that take care of their employees and have a good hurricane plan could recover quicker.
One new hurricane shelter, Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, was added for the 2006 season, giving the county 5,000 additional spaces. Gibbs now has 6,500 spaces, making it the county’s largest shelter.
The county plans to add more shelter spaces using $307,671 in state and federal grant money to retrofit Jamerson, Sanderlin and Fairmount Park schools in St. Petersburg.
The county has two pet-friendly shelters. People with pets that have no alternative other than using a public shelter should sign up now by calling Pinellas County Animal Services at 582-2150. Animals must be in carriers or cages and will be allowed on PSTA buses.
Vickers said the county would like to see more involvement from the private sector. More involvement from the community and improved outreach by the county are key to the county’s hurricane plan.
“We need more community involvement,” Vickers said. “We need the private sector to step up.”
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Article published on Wednesday, June 7, 2006
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