Coronavirus plus hurricane season: Are we ready?
In tackling the threat of the new coronavirus, the leadership of city and county officials has thus far been commendable. However, as we approach hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30, Mayor Sylvester Turner, County Judge Lina Hidalgo and all regional public officials must ask themselves the terrible question — what do we do if a hurricane hits during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Intense rainfall has caused flooding in Harris County five out of the past six years. It’s likely we will see another life-endangering flood this year. While it’s painful to imagine a scenario worse than one we already face in fighting coronavirus, we must imagine a continued pandemic plus a flood.
We must imagine it because it could very well happen, and we need to prepare for it. We need a plan that will address the situation. Here are some concepts that are worth considering.
1. We must acquire protective suits and distribute them to all first responders before hurricane season. First responders will need personal protective equipment to ensure their safety from the virus. Physical contact happens during water evacuations. Social distancing would be difficult on a speedboat or airboat, so, as often as possible, families will need to be evacuated separately rather than with neighbors.
2. If we are going to rely on volunteers, we must give them protective gear. This year, fewer Houstonians are going to feel ready to jump in their boats and save their neighbors — who might have coronavirus. We should not be relying on volunteers in flood emergencies any year — but particularly this year, when their unprotected participation could spread the virus. This said, there might be some citizens still will
ing to perform boat rescues and serve in shelters. If so, we must have a plan for distributing protective suits to volunteers, as well.
3. Evacuees who show symptoms of COVID-19 must be separated instead of being bussed to shelters. Based on coauthor Elizabeth WhiteOlsen’s experience as an evacuee during Harvey, the best time to separate symptomatic evacuees from those who appear to be healthy would be at the waiting stations between disembarking from a boat and being bussed to a shelter. Evacuees who are feverish or coughing will need to be sent to a hospital, not to a shelter.
4. Social distancing needs to be practiced on buses and in shelters. Education and polite enforcement will need to happen on buses and at shelters in order to ensure the safety of all. Posters and pamphlets with appropriate messaging need to be designed in advance so they can be printed quickly. Also an app or website that allows shelter registration, publishes shelter availability in real time and educates about social distancing policies needs to be created before hurricane season. Social distancing policies on buses need to be decided upon in advance. Spreading out evacuees on buses will mean we need many more buses.
5. Shelters will need to be equipped with sanitation supplies and staff tasked with keeping spaces well-sanitized and testing anyone exhibiting symptoms. Directors of shelters need to ensure hand sanitizer, bleach and alcohol are constantly in use. Also, thermometers, swabs and wipes will need to be plentiful. To account for the possibility of a flood during this pandemic, public officials need to acquire additional protective suits and coronavirus testing kits beyond the number our city already needs. If we can’t rely on state or federal officials to provide help, public officials should consult with local medical manufacturing companies to see how we might produce additional gear and kits here.
6. To reduce fear of evacuation, a strong coronavirus flood evacuation plan needs to be announced by the start of hurricane season. Citizens will resist evacuating because they will rightly fear being near evacuees who might have the virus. Those who delay evacuating endanger the first responders who have to go back for them once the water is higher. In order to protect everyone, the city and county need to prepare and widely publish a solid evacuation plan before hurricane season.
7. Public officials need to enact a plan for rapid buyouts of repeatedly flooded homes. Our community rallied together to help neighbors after Harvey. If the virus is still active, as pandemics experts predict it will be, neighbors and volunteers rightfully might be more hesitant to offer assistance. The stock market and job losses we are facing will reduce homeowners’ ability to repair. We need to anticipate that many homes may not be promptly repaired and be willing to buy out thousands of homes within a few weeks of a flood to provide options to people that may have few to none.
We sincerely hope that the scenario above does not happen — that the pandemic will miraculously pass and the flood will not come. But hope is not planning. And right now, we Houstonians need someone with power and authority to seriously think about these issues and be prepared to act upon them if they occur.