House panel rolls out hurricane-response ideas Education

A major highway project, emergency gas distribution centers, mandatory generator requirements for nursing homes and sales-tax holidays are among more than 70 ideas for improving the state’s response to hurricanes.

A state House panel put together to look at improving hurricane response following Hurricane Irma unanimously approved its final report Tuesday. That report features 78 recommendations, covering nine categories.

It “is not meant to be a complete list of recommendations,” committee chairwoman Rep. Jeanette Núñez, R-Miami, said. “This is just a starting point.”

State Rep. Kristin Jacobs, D-Coconut Creek, pointed out that nowhere does the plan mention putting electrical wires underground, though it could be included in the recommendations on hardening the power grid.

“I think it’s going to take a lot of follow-up on all the recommendations. They are rather nebulous,” Jacobs said.

The categories, along with some of the most significant recommendations, include:

Evacuations

1. Extend the Suncoast Parkway to the Georgia state line to provide another north-south evacuation option.

2. Have the Department of Transportation conduct exercises to see if all highway lanes could be opened to evacuating traffic.

Energy

1. Establish emergency gas distribution centers around the state.

2. Authorize gas stations to sell high-octane gas at the same price as lower octane when the station runs out of its low-octane fuel.

Shelters

1. Overhaul special-need shelters by creating a statewide special-needs shelter registration, requiring hospitals to take in people denied shelter entry due to medical reasons, and requiring each county and local health department to develop a staffing plan for the hurricane season on an annual basis.

2. Provide more state assistance with shelter management training at the local level.

Health care facilities

1. Require nursing homes to have generators that can power air conditioning.

2. Exempt generators bought by nursing homes from sales tax, up to $30,000.

3. Change facilities’ required emergency plans to include storm hardening and contact information, plus set out who is responsible for all pre-storm precautions taken.

Agriculture

1. Get federal disaster relief assistance for the citrus industry.

2. Consider long-term sales-tax and other tax exemptions for the agriculture industry.

Future hurricane expenditures

1. Create a hurricane reserve fund to pay expenses of future hurricanes. 2. Create a sales tax holiday for disaster preparedness items like generators.

3. Lower property taxes for homestead properties made uninhabitable by hurricanes Matthew, Hermine and Irma.

Housing

1. Use money from affordable housing trust funds to provide funding for affordable housing in areas affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria.

2. Consider ways to lower the cost of affordable housing development.

3. Provide incentives for communities to purchase and redevelop trailer parks destroyed in a storm into affordable housing that meets current building codes.

Flooding and debris removal

1. Identify areas where rebuilding after a disaster may be high-risk and consider options for not rebuilding in those areas, including the purchase of these properties and using them to create additional open space and natural buffers.

2. Invest in plans that cost effectively mitigate flood risks to developed areas.

3. Consider long-range plans to move water and sewer treatment plants out of flood plains or have them refitted to prevent damage during a flood.

1. Providing financial assistance to schools systems for the purchase of generators for schools that serve as shelters.

2. Provide additional funding to school districts that saw an increase in students because of Hurricane Maria.