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A Step Up In Storm Readiness

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By NEIL JOHNSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 1, 2008

TAMPA - Two seasons have passed since a hurricane hit Florida, and we're about to try for three.

Do you feel lucky?

It has happened before. Florida has gone three consecutive seasons without a hurricane four times since 1930 and more than three consecutive seasons three other times.

But did the state and its residents use the past two tranquil seasons to become better prepared for the next strike?

In some ways, yes.

Utilities continued to reinforce the power grid and trim vegetation. Money has poured into building county emergency management centers that can withstand hurricane winds.

The state has a warehouse stocked with vital supplies such as water and tarps. In addition, a company is under contract to provide 200 more truckloads of supplies if a storm hits.

Nearly all of the gas stations near major evacuation routes have complied with the law requiring them to have generators or be wired so generators can be installed quickly.

Although state and local emergency agencies have made progress, officials fear residents are slipping toward the complacency they felt before the four hurricanes of 2004 exposed the state's vulnerability.

Officials can't point to hard numbers to show whether residents are taking the hurricane threat lightly. But Holley Wade, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County's emergency management, said that seems to be the case, based on what she hears when she gives presentations to groups.

"I'm finding that people are not as prepared as they were," she said.

It's human nature to avoid thinking about disaster as time passes, said Craig Fugate, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

"The farther it is in the rearview mirror, the less people think about it," he said.

Still, it may not take much of a push for residents to get ready.

"For better or worse it's something people seem to put off until a storm," said Tom Iovino, Pinellas County spokesman.

Some people are highly prepared. Some have done nothing, he said.

"The vast majority are in the middle. It wouldn't take much to get them further along."

Two years without storms have left the state better prepared, though.

"The fact we got some breaks the last couple of years, local and state agencies got a chance to catch up," Fugate said.

But there is still much to do.

After Hurricane Wilma in 2005 left millions of residents in South Florida without power - some for weeks - the Legislature ordered the state's five public power companies to strengthen their utility systems to withstand hurricanes and to speed the restoration of power.

The utilities shortened cycles for inspecting poles and for removing vegetation that is the main cause of power failure during a storm.

The inspection cycles were cut from 10 years to eight, and vegetation trimming went to three years from five to eight years.

But the electric companies are only two years into the inspection cycle with six more years before every wood utility pole is checked and the defective ones are replaced.

The vegetation trimming cycle still has another year to go, and a six-year cycle of inspecting all major transmission lines and towers still has four years to run.

Shelter Generators In Progress

A perhaps overly ambitious plan to have 52 custom generators installed at special-need shelters across the state before the start of the 2007 season fell far short.

The generators are for shelters that house the state's most frail and vulnerable evacuees and need to provide power not only for medical equipment but also lights and air conditioning.

Though most of the generators have been ordered or are on hand, money ran out for installing the machines. The state has money to finish putting about 20 generators at special-need shelters for this season.

About 30 more are in storage. Those can be moved to the shelters if a storm threatens but cannot be fully fueled without proper installation. It might be 2010 before all of those are in place, provided that legislators approve the money.

After Hurricane Charley damaged Charlotte County's emergency operations center and forced part of it to be evacuated, the state evaluated many of the local emergency nerve centers and found they weren't able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane.

Now, Charlotte and Manatee counties are among those with new, stronger centers, and 25 shelters are in some stage of construction using money allocated by the Legislature in 2006.

"This will be paying dividends for 15 years," Fugate said.

Retailers Provide Resource

Another change from the seasons of 2004 and 2005 is the relationship between major retailers and the state's emergency management operations.

The state has recognized that stores can provide a major boost in getting supplies to residents after storms if the outlets can open quickly.

Publix started a major effort to have generators at every store that can at least power essential operations.

"If we can get Publix open, it's easier than us providing ice and water," Iovino said.

The storms of 2004 and 2005 highlighted how far the state needs to go to be ready for the next hurricane and also forced home a lesson that has not been diminished by two uneventful seasons, Fugate said.

"People came to the realization that you can't put this off another year. We can't get it all done in a year. There's too much stuff. But we've got to get started," he said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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