Shannon Weiner, director of Monroe County Emergency Management, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the county.
Hurricane season will begin June 1.
Weiner said, “Hurricane season, as you all know, runs from June 1 to November 30, but we have a few times here in Monroe County, had a couple little smaller storms pop up in May. So our partners at the National Weather Service Key West and the National Hurricane Center, and we’re always ready, and we’re always, always keeping the watch, especially, come May for storm season.”
This week is NOAA’s National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
Weiner said, “With that comes some reminders and some tips from your weather service and from emergency management. We have a lot of visitors to the Florida Keys year round. We have a lot of new residents, not just to Monroe County, but to the state of Florida. So it’s really important that you really know what your risk is when there’s a storm out there. Sometimes a storm can pass 50 miles offshore, but you still have a category one impacts, or less, sometimes more you never know with Mother Nature, but really listen to those trusted sources here in Monroe County. You have the Weather Service, the sheriff’s office shares information. You guys at the radio are fantastic about carrying our message, but it’s important to know how strong those winds really are going to be in your area. You might not be in the cone, you might be outside of the cone, but you can still have devastating winds and water with the surge. It’s not just rainfall. We’ve come to learn about storm surge here in Monroe County. It can happen after those tropical storm or category one or greater windfall. So definitely be aware and listening and knowing where that storm surge is coming. The weather service does a storm surge warning and watch, just like they do for the hurricanes itself. Know if you’re in an evacuation zone. Here in Monroe County, everyone is in an evacuation zone for a category two storm or greater, and that is due to that that high threat of surge. Any surge over three feet, is what we consider deadly. That’s the size of a child and there’s some adults who are also not super tall either, but that surge is a big threat. It comes in strong, it’s powerful water. It comes in fast. We’ve seen it when we’ve had just a few foot of surge after storms that how quickly it can come in. But the good thing is, it does recede faster than rain flood waters. So that’s a big reason why we evacuate the Florida Keys for those high end category two or three or four or five storms, because it is life threatening. Public Safety comes first here in emergency management and before a storm, during a storm and afterward, it’s really critical to stay safe.”
What are the predictions for this season’s potential storms?
Weiner said, “They are still saying above average, maybe a little bit quieter than last year. They are predicting about 17 named storms, seven to 10 hurricanes, and three to five of those major catastrophic storms. So it looks a lot like last year, and they they’ve come out with a new statistic, which is that Florida is the number one when it comes to probability. We have the highest probability of having a named storm within 50 miles of our land. So that is at 92%. It is a lot, which is why we want to be prepared. I want to say it really should be a way of life here in Florida, obviously, in my career, my profession, it is. But no matter where you live, whether you live in Monroe County or you live on the mainland, the state of Florida is pretty vulnerable to those storms. I feel like we’re bit more vulnerable sitting out here between the Gulf and the Atlantic. We tend to see storms come across or up from the Caribbean a lot of times before the rest of the state does. Or even other parts of the state do. Last year we had Raphael come across the Keys, and we did a partial activation for a low end tropical storm. Definitely listen to your trusted sources, having a plan to stay home and shelter for a low end storm, and having a plan to evacuate and being prepared to evacuate, because really, now is the time to make that your evacuation plan. Know where you’re going, have a backpack, know what you’re bringing, be prepared with food and water and prescriptions. In the state of Florida for the fast past few years, if the governor declares a state of emergency because a storm is coming that allows pharmacies in the state to allow you to come in and pick up an extra supply of any prescription medicines you might need, so that you can have those in hand. That’s really important to know. Sign up for text alerts on our alert Monroe platform, you can go to monroecountyem.com. Those alerts come directly from Monroe County Emergency Management, and if we have to evacuate or open shelters or it’s we’ve evacuated, and it’s time to come back into the county, which we try to do as quickly as possible, you would receive those alerts directly from emergency management first. So a really good, important tool to have and set up for yourselves to receive those texts.”
May 30 is the deadline for businesses to apply for early re entry.
Weiner said, “We have had a number of businesses apply this year. However, we have noticed that each year since Irma, we’ve had a little bit fewer and fewer applicants to the program. I think, just as a society and as humans, we tend to forget and become a little bit complacent when we haven’t had a big storm. But it only takes one, and we are very vulnerable, and we know how violent those storms can be, and we need all of our partners on that re entry. It’s a great opportunity for businesses to come back just before our residents, make sure their businesses are secure and that they can provide services to our residents and support the county as we move from response to recovery. So great opportunity for businesses, and I would encourage everyone to take the time to go online, and apply.”
The dedicated Emergency Operations Center opened last year.
Weiner said, “It was a fantastic opportunity to go to the National Hurricane Conference. That’s one of our big conferences in the field of emergency management that first responders and public and private partners, and not for profits, all attend. It was in New Orleans a few weeks ago, and I was invited to be on a panel discussion with a workshop to talk about, it was called the ABCs of EOC. I partnered with the architectural firm that did the design for our EOC. They are based out of Winter Haven, but they do a lot of EOCs and they’ve done other work here in the county for us in Monroe County, and it was really a great opportunity to talk to other emergency managers from across the country who are looking to build a new EOC or upgrade their existing EOC. I was so proud to be able to brag about what a great facility we have, some of the innovative things we’ve done, just protection wise, like we have all of our generators elevated to run the building. We have multiple generators. We don’t just have one, we have two, and we have space for a third to plug in. What we’ve done that’s different is that was all caged in with steel cage so that it’s elevated so it’s safe from the water, and it’s caged in so it’s safe from the wind, and there’s a lot of things like that the facility has that are different and that are making us just that much more safer and prepared and able to quicker response.”
Being prepared is essential during hurricane season.
Weiner said, “Take some action today. You can go out this week, we will have reminders and tips on our website for how to be prepared and sign up for the texts via Alert Monroe.”
The weather center in Key West has not been affected by budget cuts.
Weiner said, “We’re very, very, very thankful and pleased for that, because those guys, not only do they do a fantastic job with getting us accurate and timely information, the information that they give us is key to our decision making as far as taking protective measures and keeping our community safe. We couldn’t do our job without them. It’s an honor and a pleasure to work here and serve the people of Monroe. It’s a very special place.”