MONROE COUNTY CALLS GOV. RICK SCOTT FOR HELP IN PERSUADING REMAINING RESIDENTS TO EVACUTE
MONROE COUNTY, FL — Monroe County Emergency Management Director Martin Senterfitt called Gov. Rick Scott on Friday night to ask him to make a plea on television for anyone left in the Florida Keys to evacuate before Hurricane Irma strikes.
With the track of storm moving west, all of the low-lying Keys became vulnerable to life-threatening winds, dangerous storm surge or both. While the Lower Keys are now on track to get a direct hit from the hurricane, the Middle and Upper Keys become more vulnerable to storm surge of 5-10 feet.
“We evacuated our visitors and have evacuated most of our residents,” Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi said. “We continue to try to persuade our residents that remain in the Keys to get out while they still can.
“Now, we must think of the safety of our Emergency Operations staff and first responders and evacuate them out of harm’s way.”
After reviewing the 5 p.m. advisory, the change in the storm track led the incident command to hold off on its plans to relocate the EOC staff and some first responders to Key West to ride out the storm. The EOC is based in the Middle Keys, in Marathon.
Now, the decision will be made in the early morning where to relocate County EOC staff and first responders, including police and fire/rescue, to weather the powerful storm. This could be out of the County.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said he could not wait until the early morning to make the decision to relocate 460 prisoners at the Stock Island Detention Center, which is near Key West.
The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West already has evacuated all of its personnel.
“We keep trying,” Gastesi said. “There is still a small window for people to get out of the Keys before the tropical storm force winds begin tomorrow around noon.”
[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]
No Comment