Re: Late evacuation order hurt more than helped, editorial, Sept. 30.
Published October 4, 2004
I want to say how sorry I am for the residents who were forced to evacuate their homes late at night on Sept. 25, as Hurricane Jeanne made its way toward Pinellas County. I understand the fear, anxiety and discomfort this created for many. An evacuation in the dark is not an ideal situation. However, it was the only prudent course of action. The alternative was to leave our mobile home residents unaware of the threat posed to them by Jeanne's near hurricane force winds. As an emergency manager, not informing people of a threat has never been, and will never be, an acceptable course of action.
One of the challenges we face in trying to make evacuation decisions is dealing with forecasts that are not absolute and can change with little or no notice. If we order evacuations without sound forecasts to back them up, we risk asking people to leave their homes unnecessarily. We also condition people to become complacent in the future.
For hurricane threats, we rely exclusively on the forecasts provided by the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service. Based on those forecasts, Pinellas County issued a voluntary evacuation order for those in mobile homes, manufactured homes and recreational vehicles effective at 1 p.m. Sept. 25. We urged people to seek shelter if they felt unsafe and to stay tuned to local advisories since conditions could change. Those conditions did change shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday, when the hurricane center first predicted the impact that Hurricane Jeanne would eventually have on this area. The updated forecast showed Jeanne's track moving more directly toward us, bringing hurricane-force winds within a few miles of Pinellas County.
After receiving that forecast, we held a meeting via conference call with the Pinellas County Disaster Advisory Committee. Committee members include emergency officials from every city in the county and key public and private agencies involved in disaster response and recovery. The members must agree on the appropriate action to take. They had agreed upon the voluntary evacuation for 1 p.m. Saturday. When an updated track came in at 5 p.m. showing no prediction of high-level tropical storm force winds for Pinellas County, the members unanimously decided to maintain the voluntary evacuation. But when the 11 p.m. forecast track changed, so did the recommendation. We all agreed to step up the evacuation to mandatory.
We did not just rely on the media to get this word out; we asked area law enforcement and public safety agencies to send their people to every mobile home park to publicly announce the closest open shelter. We also requested our local National Weather Service office set off all NOAA Weather Alert radios in Pinellas and announce the evacuation information. We dispatched 34 buses to provide transportation for anyone who might not feel comfortable driving at night or did not have a vehicle.
Before 11 p.m., we had three shelters open. Shortly afterward, we announced the opening of three more, including Seminole Middle School to accommodate high concentrations of mobile home residents in Largo. Call volume into our Citizens Information Center increased significantly. Fifteen operators provided valuable information, including shelter locations.
Some of our residents may feel that the shelter in their community is their own and will always open for any evacuation. This is not necessarily the case. We select shelters based on a host of factors, including space, staff availability and facility designs.
Decisions affecting the safety and welfare of the public during a state of emergency are the most difficult and important that any of us in government will ever have to make. I wish I could tell you that Pinellas County will never again have to awaken residents to a late-night evacuation, but emergencies do not occur on a set schedule. I firmly believe that the safety of our residents must never be compromised for the sake of convenience or comfort.
I have learned many valuable lessons from these recent storms and feel there are many things we can do to improve the preparedness of our county. Among these are conducting a behavioral analysis to determine how the public perceived our messages and what they did in response to them. We plan to target specific segments of our population, such as our mobile home communities, for outreach programs. Most importantly, we want to engage our residents as an integral component of our emergency preparedness programs. Without public participation, we have no hope of success. We all must share the responsibility to protect our neighbors and ourselves. It only takes a glance at the catastrophic damage in other counties to remind ourselves how fortunate we are here in Pinellas.
I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve the residents of Pinellas County and welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about how you feel we can serve you better.
-- Gary Vickers, director, Pinellas County Emergency Management
Impromptu display of gratitude alleviates storm weariness
It has been four days after another storm-weary weekend. This morning, I was sitting in a long line of traffic in the Tampa Bay area, when I was moved by a gesture of man's humanity to man.
While I was waiting at the light and looking into the intersection, suddenly a parade of California electric company work trucks turned into the intersection. Other drivers, seeing the caravan, started waving, honking and giving the thumbs-up to this crew of workers. I joined the drivers in letting these workers know my appreciation.
Despite the weariness of the storms, the loss of patience and sanity, it was remarkable to see our citizens quickly recognize others coming to our aid.
I love this state.
In addition, thank you, California!
-- Ava VanNahmen, Clearwater
Late-night evacuees needed a shelter option in Largo
Re: Dawdling, not EOC, to blame in planning critique and Mobile home owners should not wait until evacuations ordered, letters, Oct. 1.
These letter writers said that we should have taken responsibility. That is partly true, but when the county does not offer shelters in our area and we have nowhere else to go, what are we supposed to do?
All day long on Saturday, the news media said that the winds would be no more than 35 to 50 mph. They did not change that prediction until much later in the evening on the 11 o'clock news.
We stayed in our mobile home during Frances, and it wasn't bad. We had our shutters down and the winds got to about maybe 45 to 50 mph. I wasn't scared at all.
If you read the article that started this, Order to leave came late, Sept. 27, you would understand my concern. It was the hour that they changed to the projection of the hurricane and even after that, they did not offer any shelters in Largo. The two shelters that were offered were miles away and the directions were not given, just the addresses. If you are not familiar with the area, it is very hard to navigate in the dark.
I do understand that living in a mobile home is a risk during hurricane season, but so is a home. It's all about the way the wind is blowing, the speed, where you live when it hits and most of all, what God has in store for you.
I will evacuate next time, believe me. I just hope they offer a shelter in Largo for us to go to. That is my main complaint.
-- Diane Blakeslee, Largo
[Last modified October 4, 2004, 12:28:24]
