Hurricane Responders Learn from Escambia County, Fla.

["Ice"]

Press Release Source: Escambia County Office of Public Information & Communication


Hurricane Responders Learn from Escambia County, Fla.
Tuesday April 18, 11:09 am ET


PENSACOLA, Fla., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Representatives from gulf coast communities such as Lake Charles, La. will attend Escambia County's hurricane drill on April 27 when Escambia County Public Safety officials will emphasize just as they always have: implement lessons learned from the past.



When Hurricane Ivan hit the Florida Panhandle in September 2004, Escambia County experienced damage beyond everyone's expectations. Power outages and fuel shortages were exacerbated by broken bridges and roads, which kept relief crews and supply trucks from entering the county to bring support to a community of nearly 300,000 people. Escambia County became an island and was on its own until the only remaining road, Highway 29, could be cleared.

As bad as things were, Escambia County Public Safety officials knew that things could have been worse. Those words proved true in 2005 in more ways that one. Ten months after Hurricane Ivan left its mark, Tropical Storm Arlene set her sites on Pensacola and one month later Hurricane Dennis made landfall along the Escambia County coast. One month later, Escambia County expected to be ground zero for Hurricane Katrina, then watched the storm change course and veer west to Mississippi and Louisiana. Shortly after, Escambia County hurried to assist the devastated areas just as they had been helped before.

Following Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the county completed construction of a new public safety building and emergency operations center. The facility, paid for by the county's local option sales tax, provides workspace for a disaster team of more than 100 individuals representing local, regional, state and national agencies, as well as the news media. The team is lead by seasoned staff members with approximately 40 years of emergency management experience. These individuals have been to some of the hardest hit areas of the South and have spoken at the state and national hurricane conferences.

In 1994, Escambia County experienced Hurricanes Erin and Opal within weeks of each other. Officials know that much of the affects of the storms rely on preparation. A combination of professional organization and individual personal responsibility are what pulled this community through these storms, and that is what they will practice for on April 27 and demonstrate not if, but when the next storm comes.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Downdraft]

I was deployed with others from my county (Seminole) to Escambia county after Ivan. Our mission was to provide relief to their law enforcement and fire/rescue dispatchers that in some cases had worked, slept and ate at their positions for days. I have never met a more dedicated, professional and caring group of professionals in my career. Many of these people had lost their own homes and yet they just kept working. Escambia County has a lot to be proud of when it comes to their emergency professionals.