JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Local emergency managers are working with their state counterparts to best prepare for this year’s hurricane season.
Representatives from five different counties met at the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s headquarters Thursday morning to talk about what their counties need to handle what is expected to be a pretty busy hurricane season.
Duval County may need more help with staffing shelters, if it needed to open all of them. There currently are more than 30 of these shelters. In addition, Duval County has 34 different points, where it hands out supplies like water and food, if needed.
Officials said they may need other help from the state, depending on the severity of the storm.
“We could potentially reach out to the state if the damage is severe. We may need additional personnel to assist us and heavy equipment to assist us with the emergency road access teams,” said Andre Ayoub with the Jacksonville Emergency Preparedness Division.
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St. Johns and Nassau counties have similar needs. They feel like they may need additional assistance if a storm is stronger and lasts longer.
That includes help with recovery and long-term shelters.
“We have been pretty impacted for the last several years. It is very difficult to make sure that we recover fast and bringing a sand and bringing in those types of equipment and things that we need,” St. Johns County Emergency Management Director Joseph Giammanco said.
Nassau County Emergency Management Director Tim Cooper said personnel is one of their key needs.
“Depending on how big the event can become or how prolonged, you just may run out of personnel that can’t continue to do that over along period of time,” Cooper said.
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Baker County officials also said they may need the state’s help with personnel and getting people the supplies they need.
“We are looking at trying to use some of our faith-based organizations and houses of worship to actually do those in the smaller areas to take those supplies rather than put them on the road,” Baker County Emergency Management Deputy Dennis Schmitz said.
Finally, Putnam County also needs help with staffing and flood control equipment.
“We started up a long-term recovery group. We are really trying our hardest to get that off the ground and hopefully, that will provide a little bit of a lift for some of the staffing issues that we have,” Putnam County Emergency Operations and Preparedness Chief Steffen Turnipseed said.
All of these needs were heard by Kevin Guthrie, the state’s emergency management director.
“Knowing what they are going to need, whether that is shelter staff augmentation, EOC augmentation, whether they need the National Guard or they need private sector individuals to come in and help out to get their economy up and running, making sure roads are accessible right after the storm,” Guthrie said.
Now, it’s time to get resources ready early to avoid a scramble in the middle of a disaster.