I received a gracious response from the County -- there is still work to be done. Dear Ms. Stoughton:
Thank you. I have some further questions on low-income people without cars or funds to evacuate and evacuating people with pets.
2. What outreach and assistance will there be to low-income people and those without cars or drivers' licenses other than the existing special needs program, which I read about previously and noted to focus on disabilities? One of the reported problems with Katrina evacuation was assuming everyone had money and cars in which to evacuate. This culturally biased assumption and maladroit administration killed hundreds who were literally left behind by a government "frozen in the ice of its own indifference," as FDR would say, quoting Dante.
3. Can you please designate one or more shelters as pet-friendly today? That was one of the key problems in Katrina and caused misery to people and pets. Let's designate shelters for people and pets. It will save lives, as people drowned in Katrina because there was no shelter for their pets. Motels are not the answer, it would appear.
Thank you.
With kindest regards,
Ed Slavin
In a message dated 4/21/2006 9:16:42 AM Eastern Standard Time, emgmgnt@co.st-johns.fl.us writes:
Good Morning Mr. Slavin,
My name is Linda Stoughton and I am the Deputy Director of Emergency Management for St. Johns County. I will be glad to assist you with disaster information and provide answers to your questions. St. Johns County Emergency Management includes not only hurricane planning, but uses an "All Hazards" approach to disaster planning. Everything we learn and train for can be used for any type of disaster including hurricanes, wildfires, domestic security, flooding etc.
1. Myself and Director Ashton had the opportunity to respond to Hurricanes Charley, Katrina and Wilma as part of the State of Florida Emergency Response Team (SERT). We responded to Hurricane Katrina as a member of the Incident Management Team that was sent to Harrison County, Mississippi the day after the storm made landfall. We gained first hand knowledge of how devastating the situation was and the difficulties facing Harrison County. We learned many lessons while participating on this team.
Having a Point of Distribution Plan (POD Plan) in place to provide food, water and ice to citizens after the storm is critical. We have been working on this plan for St. Johns County to insure that sites are identified and staffing is identified to put this plan into action. We are also working with the volunteer agencies to pre-identify locations for mobile feeding units to operate.
Debris - One of the most difficult problems in a community's recovery after a hurricane. St. Johns County has selected two large Debris removal companies that are pre-qualified to operate after a storm if needed.
Staff training - Under Presidential Directive #5 all staff working on disasters must have the new National Incident Management (NIMS) training developed by the Federal Government. St. Johns County has been working very hard to train County, City and volunteer agencies in the NIMS classes and ICS.
Having a Continuity of Government (COG) and Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) for the critical functions of government is also essential. St. Johns County has developed these plans for critical county functions including fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Finance and Administration. These plans are designed for in the event a critical function has to move from their current location to a new location in 12 hours and be able to operate for 30 days.
St. Johns County is also developing a Disaster Temporary Housing Plan to use after a storm makes landfall. This plan would address the possible location of FEMA trailers, hotels, apartments etc. to find housing for citizens that have lost their homes.
Mutual Aid is extremely important during a catastrophic event. The County must be ready to identify our needs quickly and request the resources through the State or Private Industry. Forming partnerships with private industry and our volunteer partners before the disaster will better prepare our community for recovery.
2. St. Johns County has a Special Needs Registration Program that has been in place since 1989. Any citizen that needs transportation to a general shelter or special needs shelter can and should pre-register with St. Johns County Emergency Management to provide this service. We use the St. Johns County School Board Transportation Division to execute the plan with assistance from Council on Aging. We currently have over 500 residents on the list. During an evacuation we will also publish a telephone number the citizens can call for transportation. This system worked very well in the 2004 hurricanes.
3. Currently there is not a "Pet Friendly" shelter in St. Johns County that can host both people and pets. We still have a shelter deficit for people and Emergency Management and the School Board are continuing to add additional shelter spaces as new schools come on line. The three new elementary schools have been added for the 2006 hurricane season. We are working hard to find a structure that meets the shelter standard 4496 to place people and pets. There are many pet friendly hotels in the area and we do encourage citizens to have a plan for their pet.
4. All of our disaster plans are being updated to meet the Federal requirement of the NIMS mandate. We have also added the COOP/COG Plans, POD Plan, new shelter information, and theTemporary Housing Plan will be added to the St. Johns County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan this year.
St. Johns County also has a strong training program in place to practice our plans and make changes. We train as a team including the County, all three cities, Flagler Estates, volunteer agencies, state and Federal agencies each year to insure that everyone knows the plan and their disaster role. We have also trained and participated in disaster exercises with Flagler Hospital, surrounding Counties, and the Utilities department. We conduct this training using table top exercises and full scale response exercises.
It takes a community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disaster of any kind. We say "One Team, One Plan, All Hazards."
The Governor has come out with his new plan called "Cultural Preparedness". It is very important that each citizen have a disaster plan in place for their family and a disaster kit prior to Hurricane Season. If anyone would like more information on disaster preparedness, please call St. Johns County Emergency Management at 904-824-5550 and we will be glad to mail you an information packet or you can visit our web site at http://www.sjcemergencymanagement.org/ for local preparedness information.
Thank you. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information.
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