Aaronson's Alert

According to the 2010 census 32,809 new residents moved to Palm Beach County (PBC) from out of state. For both our hurricane veterans and our new neighbors, I would like to continue my message of hurricane preparedness by providing some history, statistics and lessons learned from past storms.

Probably the most inconvenient effect of a hurricane is the loss of power. There is no air conditioning. No cable or television entertainment. No hot meals or hot showers. The only thing hot is the thick, humid summer air and almost nowhere to get relief from it. A week after Frances the entire state braced for the possibility of Ivan, even as crews struggled to restore power to 117,600 remaining PBC residents. Imagine being asked to prepare for another storm when your power isn’t back on from the last one? While Ivan did spare us, Jeanne was not so generous.

On the third-week anniversary of Frances, Jeanne made landfall at almost the exact same spot - less than 2 miles away. The similarities of the storms were remarkable, from their near midnight arrival to their size and rainfall. It is believed to be the first time two storms made landfall so close to each other since Cleo and Isbell crisscrossed six weeks apart in southern PBC in 1964. My point is that while it is unlikely this will occur, it is clearly not impossible.

One year later following Wilma, most FPL customers had their power restored within three to five days however hundreds of thousands of people remained without power for more than two weeks. Many medical offices were not operational leaving hospitals swamped as the only source of medical care. A minor injury could turn into a major problem without the most basic of supplies in your home.

Once the storm is gone and power is restored, a different set of hurdles can emerge such as rebuilding. Following Wilma an unprecedented 18,400 roofing permits were processed. Normal averages are typically about 4,000.  Knowing how your insurance handles these types of catastrophes is critical. If you are in a condo or other building that shares a roof, how does your association handle these situations? In Wilma’s aftermath many of the residents in my district worked for over a year to get their roofs fixed or replaced even as the County worked diligently to expedite those permits.

I am asking you to do no different than your County government has done. In fact, recently the County Emergency Operations Center took part in a statewide hurricane drill. The purpose of the exercise was to coordinate, execute and evaluate the county’s current emergency plans as they relate to full-scale activation. "We keep preaching to the community that you need to have a plan and be prepared, and this is our way of implementing and activating our plan," County Administrator Vince Bonvento said.

The County has its plan. Do you have yours?