By Brian McBride
Associate Editor
With forecasters saying there’s nearly a 50 percent chance a hurricane will slam into Florida this hurricane season, which starts Wednesday, local public safety agencies and utility companies have already cranked up the machine that is storm preparedness. From dusting off planning manuals to executing live drills, officials with agencies such as Osceola County Emergency Management and St. Cloud Fire Rescue said they’re ready to watch the skies and put their best foot forward to get the area storm-ready.
In its 28th year of issuing predictions, the Colorado State University forecast team called for 16 named storms forming in the Atlantic basin during hurricane season, which starts Wednesday and ends Nov. 30. There is a 48 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida peninsula, forecasters said.
Five of the 16 storms were expected to develop into major hurricanes (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
“It is recommended that all vulnerable coastal residents make the same hurricane preparations every year, regardless of how active or inactive the seasonal forecast is,” stated Phil Klotzbach, of the CSU Tropical Meteorology Project, in a press release. “It takes only one landfall event near you to make this an active season.”
Osceola County Fire Rescue was busy this week with hurricane preparation such as working on establishing the resident information center hotline phone bank to analyzing evacuation plans. The agency also went out in the field to do mock damage assessments in the aftermath of a hurricane.
“Getting ready for any kind of disaster is a continuing process,” Emergency Management Director David Casto said. “It never ends.”
Good Samaritan Society-Kissimmee Village, 4197 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Kissimmee, is hosting Osceola County Emergency Management, along with KUA, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Publix and other local service providers to share valuable insights about preparing for storms at a free seminar for the public Thursday, June 9, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. For more information, contact 407-933-3213.
St. Cloud Fire Rescue Fire Chief Bill Johnston, who recently returned from the Governor’s Hurricane Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, said the department has been busy working on organizing briefings, updating hurricane action plans and dusting off planning manuals.
“We’ve been working on it now for a couple of months,” Johnston said.
Johnston said he has plans to make contact and coordinate partnerships with debris removal vendors and execute a tabletop exercise with Fire Rescue personnel.
“We’ll go through the whole ‘what if’ situation,” Johnston said.
While there hasn’t been a hurricane that has directly affected Osceola County since 2004, residents should not get complacent, Johnston said. He pointed to 1992 when Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, devastated parts of South Florida in what was initially classified as a below-average season for hurricanes.
“They (residents) should have a plan in place,” Johnston said. “What are you going to do if a hurricane is coming?”
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a family plan should include:
• Identify an out-of-town contact. It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
• Be sure every member of the family knows the phone number and has a cell phone, coins or a prepaid phone card to call the emergency contact. If you have a cell phone, program that contact as “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) in the phone. If you are in an accident, emergency personnel will often check your ICE listings in order to contact someone you know. Make sure to tell your family and friends that you’ve listed them as emergency contacts.
• Teach family members how to use text messaging. Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not be able to get through.
• Subscribe to alert services. Many communities now have systems that will send instant text alerts or emails to let you know about bad weather, road closings or local emergencies.
FEMA also stressed that residents have an emergency supply kit, which includes:
• One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation.
• At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both.
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First-aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Local maps
• Cell phone with charger or solar charger
• Prescription medications and glasses
• Infant formula and diapers
• Pet food and extra water for your pet
• Important family documents, such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container
• Cash or traveler’s checks and change
• Emergency reference material, such as a first-aid book or information from www.ready.gov.
• Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
• Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, paper towels
• Paper and pencil
• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children
Johnston said residents should start preparing now because attempting to get ready for a hurricane when it’s officially forecasted to hit locally is difficult because of the massive foot traffic at supermarkets and home improvement stores.
Kissimmee Utility Authority on Thursday released its 2011 Osceola Hurricane Handbook, a free comprehensive preparedness guide offered annually to Osceola County residents.
The 40-page handbook has been revised, updated and enhanced by the utility to provide residents with the most current and up-to-date information available, according to a KUA press release. The guide includes information on emergency shelters, evacuation routes, generator safety and power outage restoration as well as helpful telephone numbers, a disaster supplies checklist and a hurricane tracking chart.
The handbook can be downloaded from KUA’s website at www.kua.com/hurricane.
Printed copies of the handbook will be available, beginning June 15, in the lobby of KUA’s customer service center at 1701 W. Carroll St. in Kissimmee.
To receive a copy of the printed handbook by mail, residents should contact KUA at 407-933-9838 or by email at hurricane@kua.com.
And in an effort to test the response time and operational readiness of its employees, Kissimmee Utility Authority on April 7 conducted a full-scale mock disaster exercise. The drill involved a wide range of activities, including both live-action training and tabletop exercises, where pre- and post-hurricane scenarios were handled with the same intensity as real-life incidents, utility officials said.
A team of employee evaluators planned to observe the exercises and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the utility.
“One of the primary goals for us is to learn where our shortfalls are,” Jef Gray, KUA’s vice president of information technology and this year’s drill coordinator, stated in a press release. “We want to identify these shortfalls now so they can be addressed prior to the start of hurricane season.”
Progress Energy Florida, which serves parts of Osceola County, is supplementing its ongoing commitment to strengthen its system against storms by introducing a new tool to help customers report power outages more easily during the 2011 hurricane season.
In addition to its automated outage reporting line, the utility has expanded its online resources to allow customers to report outages using computers and compatible mobile devices.
“We take a comprehensive, year-round approach to strengthening our system against storms,” Jason Cutliffe, system storm coordinator for Progress Energy Florida, stated in a press release. “However, we recognize that no amount of preparation can prevent all storm-related power outages. The new online outage reporting tool gives our customers another way to communicate with our company, helping ensure any disruptions in service are recognized immediately and power is restored as quickly and as safely as possible.”
For information on all of the utility’s outage reporting options, visit progress-energy.com/storm. Progress Energy officials encouraged customers interested in using mobile devices or computers to report outages to register in advance of storm season. Customers will need their account number, located on their bill, to register.
The new online outage reporting tool is one small piece of the company’s overall hurricane season preparation efforts. In 2010, Progress Energy invested thousands of staff hours and more than $177 million to strengthen its Florida system against storms, according to the utility press release.
Meanwhile, the Colorado State University forecast team will issue forecast updates on Wednesday and Aug. 3.
“Once you are ready for hurricane season, you are pretty much ready for anything,” Johnston said.