Flagler County officials talk hurricanes, coronavirus

How to prepare hurricane shelters while protecting those inside from the threat of coronavirus was the focus of a Flagler County Emergency Management meeting on Monday.

On the first official day of hurricane season. Jonathan Lord, the county's emergency management director, walked through steps residents should take to ready themselves, as well as steps the county has already taken.

"We have to be prepared, and we have to be ready to react and take care of our community," Lord said. "The county is growing, and we do have to keep an eye on that."

With almost 57,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state and almost 200 of those reports in Flagler County, Lord said the county's emergency management division is taking particular care to address social distancing at storm shelters this year. Rather than the usual 20-square-foot allocation per evacuee, the shelters will expand that to 60-square feet to ensure safe distances.

Personal protective equipment and daily temperature screenings also will be available for evacuees at shelters, Lord said.

In addition, Lord said there will be separate areas and rooms for those who are symptomatic or have tested positive for COVID-19, and that the interaction with common areas such as restrooms would be kept to a minimum.

"It's very important for us to make sure that these facilities have frequent cleaning. The mask wearing in the facility will help with that as well," Lord said, referring to the mandatory mask rule that will be put into effect in the county storm shelters. "We'll do everything we can to keep the known sick folks away from those who aren't."

Once the worst of a storm is over, Lord said emergency management would prioritize decentralizing the shelters. They'd do this by moving residents to other shelters to increase social distancing.

In 2019, the six-month hurricane season produced 18 named storms, six of which were hurricanes and three were major storms. This year, forecasters are expecting an even more active season.

Researchers from North Carolina State University are predicting 18 to 22 named storms. Of those, eight to 11 are expected to grow to hurricane status, with three to five reaching major hurricane strength. The North Carolina State team projects six to 10 of the named storms would form in the Gulf of Mexico, of which two to five would become hurricanes.

AccuWeather meteorologists increased their initial forecast of a "normal" season of 14 to 18 storms, with seven to nine becoming hurricanes, to a harsher prediction of 14 to 20 named storms, of which seven to 11 would reach hurricane strength.

So far this year, there have already been two named tropical storms, and a third has a 90% chance of forming in the next 48 hours in Mexico's Bay of Campeche west of the Yucatan Peninsula.

2pm 6/1: The disturbance near the Yucatan peninsula is gradually becoming better organized. Interests along the coast of the Bay of Campeche should monitor this system as tropical storm watches or warnings could be required later today or tonight. More: https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/UlIr3ShFt5

-- National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) June 1, 2020 Lord said last year, when preparing for Hurricane Dorian, the county's emergency shelters were not at capacity. He said the special needs shelter could have doubled in population and been fine, and although their first prepared shelter almost reached full capacity, the second shelter wasn't needed.

"If we had another storm like that, I think we'd see something similar," Lord said. "We never had to put evacuees in that next shelter but we were ready to do so."

The emergency management director also stressed how important it is for residents to prepare early on in the season, especially this week, when there is a sales tax holiday on emergency items in the county. About 96% of major hurricanes take place from mid-August to mid-October.

In order for folks to get ready to hunker down, Lord said it's imperative for people to review their insurance plans, collect necessary items and have an evacuation plan, and determine a trigger point -- a point where the storm crosses a line, whether in intensity or proximity, that would cause you to enact your evacuation plan.

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