Irma woes ran gamut from passwords to power to crowds
As Hurricane Irma’s eastern flank swept across Broward County last September, the storm exposed the weaknesses in the county’s readiness, from crowded shelters to a lack of information on power outages.
City workers lost passwords to databases of people with health problems who might require assistance. Air conditioning failed at several shelters, as the storm knocked out power. Worst of all, a power failure shut off the air conditioning at a Hollywood nursing home, leading to 12 deaths.
But like the near-miss from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the possibility of a direct strike by a major hurricane forced the county’s emergency management system into high gear — an experience that should strengthen the county’s response to the next hurricane.
draft report by the county’s emergency staff outlines problems and gives recommendations for implementation before the next hurricane season, which begins June 1. The report lists 34 issues and 53 corrective actions on preparedness, the management of the county’s emergency operations center, power outages and shelter management, among other issues. It called for improved distribution of post-hurricane aid in light of the federal emergency food stamp program, which created long lines of frustrated applicants and paralyzed neighborhoods.
“This is the opportunity for us to get better,” said Alphonso Jefferson, an assistant county manager who handles public safety. “Things happen out there in real-time situations and you have to adjust very quickly. Our goal was to identify what those issues were and actually have a plan in place or modify our plans to address that situation.”
Each city, for example, maintains a database that lists the contact information and health needs of residents who may need assistance in an emergency. But during Irma, staff at several cities couldn’t find the passwords. County staff at the emergency operations center were able to get them in before anyone suffered any problems, county officials said.
But they said the incident reA
vealed a weak link that needed to be addressed immediately, taking into account privacy concerns.
“You don’t want just anybody accessing it, so before the storm, you designate key personnel who would have access to that information,” said Lenny Vialpando, deputy director of the county’s Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, which encompasses emergency management. “During an emergency, maybe that person’s not there. We have to have a protocol in place so that when that does happen, we can be ready to credential them and get them access.”
At the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center, the storm knocked out power to the air conditioning system, leading to the deaths of 12 people, a disaster that drew international attention, sparked reforms and led to a criminal investigation.
The county’s after-action report does not assign blame for the deaths. But it calls for changes to prevent such an event from happening again.
The report calls for a status board on nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to be set up on the emergency operations center computer system, with an employee assigned to update and monitor the board. The report also calls for nursing homes to be moved up on Florida Power & Light Co.’s priority list for power restoration. The company allows counties to select facilities for priority restoration, after the top priority that must be given to major hospitals and 911 dispatch centers, said FPL spokesman Chris McGrath.
Complicating work for the county emergency staff throughout the storm was a lack of up-to-the-minute information on power outages from FPL.
“Right now the information is very vague,” Vialpando said. “It would be helpful for us to get some sense of where power might be going out in the county, where lights might be down, where are our lift stations losing power, where are traffic lights losing power, where vulnerable populations are losing power, where might ALFs be losing power. We might be able to start pre-planning where we need to go.”
One issue not addressed in the report was the county’s evacuation order for the entire area east of Federal
Highway, a decision that city leaders say caught them off-guard and taxed their law enforcement resources.
“Municipalities need some lead time to actually get it implemented,” said Lee Feldman, city manager of Fort Lauderdale. “If an evacuation order is going to be contemplated, there should be some consultation with the municipalities as to what areas and when. We shouldn’t get a notice at the same time the general public is getting a notice. That doesn’t give us time to respond.”
Miguel Ascarrunz, Broward’s emergency management director, said the evacuation issue would be addressed. He said cities’ surprise at the order “seems odd” since they had been kept informed of the timing of impending evacuation plans through daily and sometimes twice-daily conference calls.
As the storm approached, the county opened 27 shelters in public schools. Some 12,726 people showed up at the general population shelters; 729 went to the specialneeds shelters. And at four pet friendly shelters, there were 354 people, plus their pets. Although these were always intended to be lastresort shelters, some became particularly uncomfortable after the storm knocked out power and air conditioners at several shelters stopped working.
The county plans to address this immediately, so that by the beginning of hurricane season, all shelters have a back-up air conditioning system.
The county is looking for more shelter space, possibly through using classrooms and other smaller spaces within schools. Such an expansion would require additional personnel.
Broward Mayor Beam Furr said he hopes to have a workshop with the school board soon on allowing their employees to run the shelters.
“The main thing I’m seeing is the need for coordination between the cities, the school board and the county for help in manning the shelters,” he said. “I’d like to see the shelters manned by those people that know the schools the best, and that’s the principals and facilities maintenance.”