June has finally arrived in the Sunshine State, bringing a familiar foe to all Floridians: hurricane season. According to forecasters, we’re in for an active year, with several trusted models predicting an above average season. (Don’t shoot the messenger, but something along the lines of 18-22 named storms…YIKES!) The return of hurricane season also brings back our friend the “cone of uncertainty,” a tool meant to provide a best guess on a charging storm’s projected path. We can debate the accuracy of this forecasting aid, but it’s something we are all familiar with and equipped to respond to in our own way.
The 2020 hurricane season, much like 2020 itself, promises to be anything but familiar. When a storm inevitably starts churning our way this year, it is the COVID-19 curve, not just the cone, that will be on emergency management officials’ minds. In the age of COVID, Florida is having to completely rethink its strategy for hurricane response. For instance, the state will be stockpiling personal protective equipment (PPE) this year in addition to the staples of water, gasoline and MREs, with more than 10 million face masks expected to be in state reserves by June 1.
Handling people in a hurricane emergency will also be a challenging new frontier with COVID-19 threats looming. A top concern is how the state’s emergency shelters can be utilized to protect citizens while also maintaining social distancing standards to prevent
transmission of the virus. New protocols could range from separating people in the shelter based on temperature checks to
non-congregated sheltering in hotels. Evacuations themselves will also be viewed differently this year, in part to address for space limitations with the implementation of these new shelter protocols. Officials are hinting that people in structures (outside of flood zones) built to newer codes and standards may be asked to shelter in place rather than evacuate.
State officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are in constant communication and daily planning to tackle these new contingencies. COVID-19 is certain to play a leading role for officials when a hurricane starts to bare down our way, and it will be even more critical to follow local and state directives as we adjust to a “new normal” for hurricane response. Ironically, in this time when our lives are continuously shaped by efforts to “flatten the curve,” our old friend the cone of uncertainty may just provide an unintended benefit: normalcy. Stay safe – and healthy – this hurricane season.
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