Not Just Any Air-Port in a Storm: Okaloosa Regional Airport Could Serve As a Backup Emergency Center in Case of a Hurricane
By Jeff Ayres, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
May 18–Some 60 people with badges and cell phones and Okaloosa County seals on their shirts and laptops filed into a large conference room at Okaloosa Regional Airport on Wednesday.
Less than 30 minutes later, they were all seated at a long table with their respective computer networks up and running.
Doing that in May is fine with them. Repeating the process from June through November is something they hope to avoid.
But county officials say they’re ready to use the airport as an alternate emergency operations center site if the current EOC at the Shalimar courthouse annex is overcome by a major hurricane.
Officials from various county departments tested their ability to set up an EOC at the airport as part of Okaloosa’s annual hurricane preparedness drill.
Public safety, public works and emergency management officials had given themselves about two hours from leaving the annex to getting emergency functions running at the airport.
“They exceeded our expectations in bringing the alternate EOC online,” said Okaloosa County Emergency Management Director Randy McDaniel. “It took less than 30 minutes.”
The current EOC is in a flood zone and could be threatened by high water, not to mention serious wind damage, in a major hurricane. Until now the courthouse in Crestview was the alternate EOC site.
But concerns about that building’s ability to withstand a hurricane’s nastiest winds led county officials to consider the airport.
“We’ve got more space at the airport for putting in a firstin team of public works, law enforcement,” said Dino Villani, the county’s public safety director. “The new (terminal) construction and its location outside a (storm) surge zone are big pluses.”
McDaniel said the airport would be used if storm surge from a strong Category 3 or greater hurricane threatened the EOC.
A decision would be reached “about the same time we (decide to) evacuate the county,” he added.
Typically, voluntary evacuation advisories are issued 36 hours before a storm’s arrival while mandatory evacuations are ordered 24 hours in advance, he said.
An important part of the drill was making sure key personnel could get to the airport from the EOC in a timely manner. They would get to Okaloosa Regional by State Road 85, which would be clogged with people fleeing a storm.
McDaniel said it took less than 15 minutes to make the trip on Wednesday.
If traffic is a problem during an actual EOC evacuation, sheriff ‘s deputies could escort emergency vehicles, he said.
Participants suggested some minor tweaking, such as longer phone lines and more tables, but generally praised the airport’s capability.
The county plans to build a new public safety complex, including an emergency operations center, at Okaloosa-Walton College in Niceville in 2009.
A state appropriations bill awaiting Gov. Jeb Bush’s signature includes about $1 million for the facility, Villani said.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
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