Shannon Weiner, Director of Emergency Management for Monroe County, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on in the county.
Weiner was recently named the President of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association.
She said, “It is a great honor. As a member and the president of the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association, I have the opportunity to network and reach out and share best practices and resources with all the 67 emergency managers, county emergency managers in the state of Florida and then in the private sector as well. It is just an incredible opportunity to share and learn and grow. I’ve been a member of the Preparedness Association since I started my career in Emergency Management in 2004. It really builds that network and when we have an incident like an Irma, all of our county emergency managers and those in the private sector and the nonprofits really just pulled together and are there to support each other and are standing by and waiting to come help. It’s a very unique industry to work in and career field, but is one that is definitely based on teamwork and working together and partnerships. We see that every day here in Monroe County as well at the local level.”
With hurricane season upon us, it’s time to talk reentry stickers.
Weiner said, “We have been fortunate due to the El Nino and now we have that African dust out there, while it causes some trouble, it does keep those storms at bay. It’s bought us a little bit of time, which we all appreciate because no one wants to go through the experience, even a tropical storm, it can be can be a dangerous storm.”
Anyone who has not gotten a reentry sticker, they are available to all Monroe County residents with a vehicle. They can be found at any tax collector’s office. It requires proof of residency.
Weiner said, “If you don’t have one, of course as a resident you can show your proof of residency at the reentry checkpoint if we have the need to evacuate, they are going to let you back in. But if you have a sticker, they are just going to see that sticker on your driver’s side of your windshield and they’re going to wave you right through. You’re not going to have to stop. It’s going to keep traffic flowing, keep you moving and get everyone home a little bit faster.”
One way to keep everyone informed is Alert Monroe.
Weiner said, “It actually was put into place right before Hurricane Irma and that was the first time that we used it. Residents and visitors alike can sign up at www.monroecountyem.com. Just go to our website and then you’ll see a big button that says Alert Monroe, click on it and you can go ahead and enter your preferences for what types of notices you would receive. We really do not push any emergency alerts out through Alert Monroe unless there is something significant coming. We’ll do it if we are going to call for a county-wide evacuation. We will do it if we’re opening shelters. We will let our residents know when the county would open for residential reentry, and how to plan what the county is looking like so that they could come back home quicker. So it is actually the fastest way to get emergency notification in the event of a storm.”
Storm surge is another danger that people need to understand.
Weiner said, “Storm surge is actually the abnormal rise in the sea level due to a storm and the surge is primarily caused by the storms when pushing that sea water onshore, when it combined with the normal tides or the abnormal tides, if we’re having king tides in particular, it can increase the water level that’s coming on shore. In a severe storm, like Irma, I believe we had over nine feet of surge of storm surge, 15 or more we saw on the mainland in southwest Florida for Ian and we did have some storm surge here in Monroe County in the city of Key West and on Stock Island. (Even) at three feet, that is dangerous. That is the height of a small child. So we really want everyone to be aware and be prepared and be listening. We’re used to hearing tropical storm or hurricane warning and watches, but the National Weather Service does put out and the National Hurricane Center in partnership, storm surge watches and warnings. So listen for those as well and be aware and alert to those messages, too. Because if you’re in that area and you have small children, you want to make sure that you are in a safe and secure place. Storm surge is different than regular flooding, because it comes in and it comes out, so it recedes quickly. But it can do a significant amount of damage to our homes or businesses, really vehicles, anything in its way. We’ve seen it before. It was very significant during Wilma and I think we kind of forgot about it going into Ian because as a community it wasn’t something that was so at the forefront of our minds. We had had it during Irma, but so many of us evacuated during Irma and didn’t see it or experience it, which was a good thing. So you know, just be alert and be prepared and know what kind of threats you’re looking at in your part of the Keys when there is a storm out there.”
The new Emergency Operations Center is underway in Monroe County.
Weiner said, “I had the opportunity actually on this past Friday to do a walk through of the facility and the site with the construction manager. A big thanks to all the men and women that are out there working on the site, because it was very, very hot. The exterior is all in place, they have some temporary windows in place so that they can start, doing the electric. They have the interior framed out, it is very exciting. It’s a very positive thing for Monroe County to be able to have that facility in place. It’s going to allow our community to respond to and recover faster than we have ever done before. Because we’ll be able to have all the partners safely in the same place for the length of time that we need to keep them there. We are, ironically enough, the only county in the state of Florida that does not have a standing, always ready to go, dedicated EOC. So very exciting times for Monroe County, we will be happy to have it and very thankful for its use and thank you for everyone that’s out there working on it every day in this heat.”
The EOC will also service the 911 center for the county and be a multi-use, year-round facility.
Weiner concluded, “I just remind everyone to make sure you have a plan to shelter in county and a plan to shelter out of county if needed. Hopefully we’ll all be safe this hurricane season and it’ll be a quiet one.”