Social distancing and other CDC guidelines won't work in a shelter set up like this one for Hurricane Sandy evacuees at West Florida High School | U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Mark A. Ebert
Florida’s senators asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create guidance for the hurricane season for evacuation plans that also keep residents safe from COVID-19.
U.S. Sens. Mark Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott, R-Fla., sent a letter on April 8 to FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor asking him to issue the guidance.
“Unfortunately, we are just 54 days away from the start of the 2020 hurricane season, a time that puts many Floridians on edge without confronting the coronavirus,” Rubio and Gaynor’s letter said, according to Florida Daily. “With hurricanes, early planning and preparation is key, and while officials are currently focused on the pandemic, we must start thinking about June 1. This is especially important in light of current social distancing protocols.”
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
The senators urged Gaynor to issue guidance on hurricane preparedness that addresses Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. They want state and local governments, tribes and territories to have the information before June 1. Florida Daily said they asked FEMA to consider how to evacuate and provide shelter to people suspected of having the coronavirus or who have it.
“It is our hope that the pandemic will quickly pass, but all points indicate we will be dealing with this virus for the foreseeable future,” Rubio and Scott said. “In this new normal, our goal is to make sure that Floridians have their hurricane plans in place as soon as possible.”
FEMA administrators are making plans to deal with COVID-19 and hurricanes.
“COVID is the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina hitting 50 states instead of two,” former FEMA official Barry Scanlon told Politico. “You have all of the country’s public and private resources taxed beyond comprehension.”
FEMA may set up a second National Response Coordination Center to handle disasters other than the global pandemic, current and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told Politico. That second center would handle hurricane season, a former DHS official said.
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