Manatee Emergency Ops Center Impresses: FEMA Official, Vern Buchanan Say Facility Among Top in Florida
By Stacey Eidson, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Jun. 12–Manatee emergency ops center impresses: FEMA official, Vern Buchanan say facility among top in Florida
MANATEE — The paint was still wet on the walls of Manatee County’s new $55 million emergency operations center as U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, toured the facility Monday with Scott Morris, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Long-term Recovery Office in Florida.
Joined by emergency management officials from Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto, Hardee and Charlotte counties, Buchanan and Morris were impressed with the new emergency operations center near U.S. 301, which will open its doors to county staff beginning July 18.
“It is phenomenal,” Morris said, after touring the command center, media rooms, traffic center and training area. “I’ve been around the state and seen quite a few of these facilities and this one ranks right up there near the top. Clearly, the governor and the local governments have put a priority on emergency management. It is good to see because without top-notch facilities like this one around the state, it makes emergency management jobs much, much tougher.”
Laurie Feagans, the chief of emergency management of Manatee County, said the emergency operations center is ready to handle whatever the 2007 hurricane season may bring.
“We will get a temporary certificate of occupancy on July 18, which means the contractor will give the county the keys and we can start bringing in our computers and phones,” Feagans said. “The official opening is not determined yet. But if we had a storm coming at us pretty quick, as soon as we get the keys to the building, we could move right in ourselves.”
Unlike the county’s existing emergency operations center in downtown Bradenton, Feagans said the new facility will be able to endure even the harshest of storms.
“What is really nice about this facility is we don’t have to evacuate it,” Feagans said. “Right now, we are downtown in our EOC and anything from a high Category 2 on up, we would have to evacuate the building. So that has always been a worry. This facility can withstand 200 mph winds.”
Earlier in the day, Buchanan met with emergency management officials from surrounding counties at Manatee Community College in Lakewood Ranch to discuss any concerns they may have about this year’s hurricane season.
“I have to be honest with you, I was a skeptic,” Buchanan said, explaining that when he moved to Florida from Michigan in 1990, he did not take the threat of hurricanes seriously. “Charley (in 2004) opened my eyes.”
Charlotte County Emergency Management director Wayne Sallade said his community is still trying to recover from Hurricane Char- ley.
“We told them initially, in three to five years we will start to see some progress,” Sallade said. “Well, guess what? We are coming out of the dark finally. And it’s been almost three years.”
Residents in the Tampa Bay area still do not take hurricanes and potentially storm surges seriously because they haven’t been hit by a strong storm since the 1920s, Feagans said.
“We are still not hitting the mark,” Feagans said, adding that counties could be forced to begin visually showing residents what it is like to drown. “The truth of the matter is, you cannot outrun the force of water.”
Hurricane Expo
For more information about hurricane preparedness, the Manatee Homebuyer & Hurricane Expo will take place this Saturday at the Manatee Convention Center in Palmetto. The event is free to the public.
–What: Manatee Homebuyer & Hurricane Expo
–When: 9 a.m. — 4 p.m. Saturday
–Where: Manatee Convention and Civic Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto
–Information: Manatee Coalition for Affordable Housing at (941) 746-2115, Manatee County Community Services Department Housing Section at (941) 749-3030, or Manatee County’s Planning Department Hazard Mitigation at (941) 749-3070
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