The Atlantic hurricane and storm season officially starts on June 1, and lasts through the end of November.
The 2019 hurricane season is projected to be relatively smaller, with scientists from the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project predicting 13 named storms, five hurricanes and two major hurricanes this year — fewer in number than in previous seasons, but just as dangerous to our region.
All it takes is one hard landfall to cause major damage here — not only to our own homes and property, but to many of the essential services and infrastructure we count on our local community governments for.
Given the widespread acceptance at the local, county, and even state levels of the realities of climate change and the rising sea levels South Florida is experiencing, are local city governments better prepared to respond and recover from a major storm?
***
Most Florida cities have improved, even streamlined their preparedness planning over the years. Planning, after all, the most important aspect of facing a storm, surviving it, and recovering from it — and Florida’s cities have had plenty of practice in preparing.
But in recent years, there are three key elements local governments have been implementing with more regularity. It starts with emergency operations preparation, coordination between departments, and public-safety communications. With better training in place now and better planning from responders, emergency supplies and materials are readily available before, during, and after a hurricane.
Most city websites, if not all, have massively improved providing essential information to citizens. Implementing mobile alerts and text messages makes information and updates more frequently available for local residents. Most of the time, these media play a supplementary role to the usual way we get local info — either by email or snail mail from the utility company. But during storms and hurricane situations, mobile alerts and texts are taking a more prominent role in counties and municipalities getting official word out about basic facts that save lives and help their residents stay safe: what plans and services are in place if evacuation becomes necessary, and also when it’s not necessary, and what is being done as a storm happens.
Government assistance has become more effective as well, according to local officials. Funds are more available for relief and recovery and for housing for those in need.
***
In these times of budget cuts and belt-tightening, is there enough staffing for city departments?
Ideally, when threatened by a hurricane, the last thing we expect are staffing shortages. Communities are supposed to provide safe havens, and when it gets down to the nitty-gritty, there is indeed safety in numbers. But some cities have struggled with having enough staff to assist with such hands-on work as shelter operations, and probably will continue to struggle. Even the American Red Cross, which used to staff all shelters in emergency situations, said they are unable now to provide the same level of staffing.
Organization, especially the coordination of official efforts, is key in making sure people are prepared for evacuation before a major storm. Are people going to listen to their local leaders and depart in a timely manner? Will shelter capacities be adequate for those who decide to stay?
Valid questions, anyone would agree, as beachfront cities like Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Delray Beach, and more are trying to be proactive in their planning. But coordination among cities and counties isn’t what it could be, and with state and federal officials wading in along with nonprofit organizations, sometimes it seems as though the agencies that are supposed to help are the most in need of it.
***
Beyond the immediacy of safeguarding human life, how are cities managing sewer systems overburdened with rising sea levels, more intense hurricanes, and worsening flooding?
South Florida’s sewage systems are already strained, given their antiquated state, the ever-increasing population, and the slow and expensive progress that’s been made both on shoring up the infrastructure in place and building new treatment plants and storage wells. Many cities’ water and sewage treatment plants are inadequately prepared to handle heavy rains, which often leads raw sewage released into our streets and homes. That means maintenance is a must, and some local infrastructure needs emergency upgrading.
But local communities, which have largely led the charge in figuring out how climate change affects them and seek ways to address it, can’t afford to wait until the wet season to prepare for disasters. Building construction codes and regulations to prevent flooding are being toughened, with some local regulations now requiring homes and buildings to be constructed to higher flood-protection levels.
South Florida’s deteriorating infrastructure and restrained local budgets will make it more difficult to cope with the many ways climate change affects our area. Still, however much more intense storms and hurricanes are, however worse the flooding and other dangers hurricanes bring, the story for South Floridians is the same every year: Be prepared, stay alert, follow the news, and heed information provided by local officials.
