Be hurricane prepared
By Alyce Hanson, Administrative Services Director

Hurricane season starts June 1. Be prepared. Be aware of how to get important information, and know what it means.

Who is our local contact in an emergency situation?
Where is the agency located?
What does this agency do in times of crisis?

Who?
Our local contact for hurricane status is the Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency Management (OEM). The Mayor of Miami-Dade County is the spokesperson for the agency and holds regularly scheduled news conferences throughout any storm or emergency event.

Where?
The Office of Emergency Management is located at 9300 N.W. 41 Street in Doral, Florida. Television stations can broadcast the Mayor’s address live, directly from the briefing room. All local networks carry the news conferences.

What?
The OEM operates on three different levels and staffs the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) differently according to these levels.

Level 3
“Level III activation does not require the OEM to significantly alter its day-to-day operations or management structure.” In this case the Duty Officer monitors a situation that may be developing and determines who should be alerted. The EOC is not activated. This is usually a short term event affecting a small area. A report is generated at the end to document the actions taken by the appropriate agency (a Hazmat Team may have responded with police and fire department personnel).

Level 2
“Level II partial activation is typically limited agency activation. OEM staff and Emergency Support Functions (ESF) lead agencies with a role in the incident response are activated and required to report to the EOC.” At this point the incident may or may not escalate to Level 1 but key agencies are required to begin preparations. ESF agencies fall into 17 categories: Transportation, Communications, Public Works, Firefighting, Information and Planning, Mass Care, Resource Support, Health and Medical, Search and Rescue, Hazmat, Food and Water, Energy, Military Support, Public Information, Volunteers and Donations, Law Enforcement, and Animal Protection (more than one agency is in each category but perhaps only one or two of the group would report to the EOC at this level of activation).

Level 1
“In a full-scale activation, the EOC is activated on a 24-hour schedule due to an imminent threat or occurrence of a disaster.” All 17 ESF agencies are required to have their representatives staff the EOC around the clock.

Local network news stations keep the public informed and cover news conferences, periodic updates, and other activities related to the Office of Emergency Management.

Additional Information:
Hurricane information can be found on the County’s website link http://www.miamidade.gov/oem/hurricanes.asp. Dial the Answer Center at 311 (305.468.5900) to schedule special services or find the shelter nearest your home. The Answer Center operates from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Monday - Friday and 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday & Sunday. To contact information from outside of Miami-Dade County the number is (888) 311-DADE.

Weekly shopping lists.
To help you know what to gather for hurricane supplies, we have put together twelve (12) weekly shopping lists. If you purchase the items on these lists, one week at a time, by June 1st you’ll have gathered most of your supplies. There may be individual supplies you need to purchase.

You can find the weekly shopping lists in this newspaper, and on cable access SIB Television, Channel 77. The cumulative list is on the City’s official Website www.sibfl.net: on the home page in QUICKFIND, click on Hurricane Guidelines, then click on Hurricane List – 12 Week Shopping List.

BE PREPARED!

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