Hurricanes Do Save Lives

How many lives have been saved by hurricanes

Sept. 28, 2005, 10:55PM Evacuation Lessons come at high cost :107 lives

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topfront/3374468

I have followed Hurricane Rita since it brushed my Key West floating home. The Houston Chronicle women and men have done a great job. The article is well researched and well written. Here is one suggestion: include how many people die each day on greater Houston highways, how many die in nursing homes, how many die from crimes, how many die from suicide , and how many from other accidents. So if the total is greater than the toll during the evacuation, then less people died than is the "normal" death toll. We Floridians pad the toll of hurricanes. If someone drives into a canal during the storm or in the next few days, the death is a hurricane death. If someone falls off their roof clearing tree limbs, their death is a hurricane death. Then, of course, we have the people who run generators in attached garages, enclosed porches, attached sheds and even inside houses or apartments and die from carbon monoxide. Are these deaths hurricane deaths? Did drug overdoses decline during the hurricane? New Orleans, the former murder capital (per capita), has lost its title. So how about looking at the positive side, too. A life shaking event shakes lives. Some people are alive that would have been "normal" deaths because of the hurricane.

More Florida Emergency Sites

Lee County Web Site

Lee County, Florida, includes Ft. Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel Island, and other areas. Hurricane Charlie hit Lee County in 2004. Lee has an excellent web site.

http://www.lee-county.com/default.htm

Click on All Hazards Guide and explore.

Go back to the opening page and click on Maps tab at the top.

Click on the following maps: Coastal High Hazard, Evacuation routes, Hurricane Shelter Map, Hurricane Tracking, and Storm Surge.

CDC Site for Emergency Preparedness & Response for Hurricane Health & Safety

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/index.asp

State of Florida Procedure for Evacuations Documents

http://www.floridadisaster.org/dem/DOCUMENTS/evac_sop.htm

The downloadable files offer detailed information.

Procedure for Regional Evacuations Updated June 1st , 2000
[Storm Watch 2000] [Hurricane Planning] [State Emergency Operations Center]
Regional Evacuation Procedure	MS Word File
Tropical Storm / Hurricane Annex	MS Word File
Attachment 1 - Methodology for Calculating Potential Arrival Times of Tropical Storm Winds	MS Word File
Attachment 2 - Criteria for Decision Making	MS Word File
Attachment 3 - Regional Evacuation Planning Area Maps	West Region North Central Region Northeast Region East Central Region Tampa Region Southwest Region Southeast
Attachment 4 - Statewide Evacuation Routes	Panhandle Northeast Central South
Wildfire Annex	MS Word File
Radiological Annex	MS Word File

State Emergency Response Team of Florida

Explore

http://www.floridadisaster.org/

Then go to

FLORIDA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WEB SITES

http://www.floridadisaster.org/fl_county_em.asp

Check out the following county web sites: Broward (Ft. Lauderdale), Charlotte (Punta Gorda hit by Hurricane Charlie in 2004), Miami-Dade, Monroe (the Keys), and Volusia (Daytona Beach) See 2004 Hurricane Season After Action Report (pdf file).