NEWS

Hurricane Matthew taught shelter officials new lessons

Rick Neale

FLORIDA TODAY

WEST PALM BEACH — Hurricane Matthew's south-to-north path along the Florida peninsula triggered evacuations unseen since Hurricane Wilma struck 11 years ago. And emergency shelter officials learned numerous lessons along the way.

Among the challenges: Miscommunication with government officials and media. Management confusion at pet-friendly shelters. And evacuees showing up at shelters with no bedding, food, water or supplies — all with a potentially catastrophic hurricane closing in on the Sunshine State.

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“Hurricane Matthew, I don’t think anybody didn’t think that it was going to be the big one. The way it was staring at us, from the time it started through the time it went up to the Carolinas,” Carlos Castillo, American Red Cross regional disaster officer for South Florida, said Thursday during a panel workshop at the Governor's Hurricane Conference.

“That created the need to make a lot of decisions. A lot of dynamic and frequently changing decisions, based on the risk that was anticipated,” Castillo said.

Thursday's workshop at the Palm Beach County Convention Center focused on sheltering obstacles faced before and after Matthew swept along the East Coast.

MALCOLM DENEMARK / FLORIDA TODAY
Satellite Beach firefighters responded to a house fire on Thyme St., possibly caused by a power line. The firefighters? efforts were hampered by high winds, driving rain and low water pressure.
Satellite Beach firefighters responded to a pre-dawn house fire on Thyme St., possible caused by a power line. The firefighters efforts were hampered by high winds, driving rain and very low water pressure. The city of Melbourne shut off all water to the barrier islands Thursday night. The house was a total loss.

In South Florida alone, the Red Cross managed 45 shelters that housed 15,592 people in nine counties, said Chuck Parker, senior disaster program manager. Demand ranged from 13 shelters housing 7,121 evacuees in Palm Beach County to a single shelter housing 47 people in Glades County — and local politicians did not always loop in Red Cross officials on their plans.

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“In some cases, we found out by watching the media that we were going to be opening additional shelters,” Parker said.

As Hurricane Matthew approached, Governor Rick Scott visited the Brevard County Emergency Operations Center in Rockledge for a conference with local emergency personnel, and a statement to the news media.

Curtis Sommerhoff, Miami-Dade County emergency management director, described the decision-making matrix his staff navigated 60 hours in advance of Matthew's approach, based on projected wind, storm surge and inland flooding hazards. His agency issued a voluntary evacuation order for mobile home residents, low-lying areas and unsafe structures.

Heavy waves caused by Hurricane Matthew pounds the boat docks at the Sunset Bar and Grill, October 7, 2016 on Cocoa Beach, Florida. Hurricane Matthew passed by offshore as a catagory 3 hurricane bringing heavy winds and minor flooding. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

“If we do that too often and move people, are they going to move the next time? ‘Ah, the county, they got it wrong. It was worse where they evacuated me to than if I’d stayed home. Nothing happened — not even a palm frond down,’” Sommerhoff said.

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All told, Sommerhoff said Miami-Dade spent $8 million preparing for Matthew. Challenges included the timing of shelter openings, delivery of shelter supplies, and inexperienced shelter volunteers.

People drive out of the Orlando area in Kissimmee, Florida in preparation for the landfall of Hurricane Matthew, on October 6, 2016.
Some three million people on the US southeast coast faced an urgent evacuation order Thursday as monstrous Hurricane Matthew -- now blamed for more than 100 deaths in Haiti alone -- bore down for a direct hit on Florida.
/ AFP / Gregg Newton (Photo credit should read GREGG NEWTON/AFP/Getty Images)

“I think a lot of these hiccups for us were just the fact that it’s been so long since we’ve had to do it. We consider Hurricane Matthew a good training experience. Obviously, no better training experience than some of those near-misses,” Sommerhoff said.

A common refrain across Florida: Hurricane evacuees did not know what supplies and items they should take to a shelter.

On the Space Coast, 3,010 people evacuated to general-population shelters, while special-needs shelters accommodated 377 people. What's more, 933 people and 463 pets went to pet-friendly shelters, Brevard County Emergency Management reported. Agency officials warned that neither cots nor beds would be provided, so they advised evacuees to bring pillows, blankets, air mattresses or sleeping bags.

A sign points to an evacuation route as South Florida residents prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew on October 6, 2016 in Pompano beach, Florida.
Residents of the US state of Florida scrambled to escape the path of Hurricane Matthews as it pounded the Bahamas after leaving 27 people dead in the Caribbean.The storm, which is swirling near the northwest Bahamas, is expected to intensify to a Category Four hurricane as it moves northwest towards Florida.
/ AFP / Gaston De Cardenas (Photo credit should read GASTON DE CARDENAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Many East Coast evacuees drove over to the Gulf Coast seeking hotel rooms. But availability proved scarce because of the tourism season, said Bene Hunter, American Red Cross disaster program specialist for Central Florida.

“We didn’t have any hotel space available on the West Coast. So they’re coming to our shelters now — and they’re coming to our shelters without anything,” Hunter said.

Local residents take shelter at the Pedro Menendez high school in St. Augustine, Florida, on October 6, 2016, ahead of hurricane Matthew.
Some 1.5 million people are under evacuation orders in Florida in preparation for mighty Hurricane Matthew to make a direct hit on the state, the governor said Thursday. Matthew has already killed 27 people as it barreled its way through the Caribbean, with the Bahamas the last to be hit.
/ AFP / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Jim Judge, Volusia County emergency management director, said 365 special-needs people went to his shelters. However, only 19 had preregistered.

In Volusia, Matthew knocked out power to 47 percent of households and inflicted $500 million in damages. All told, Judge said 21 shelters housed about 4,000 evacuees, and his agency could have better planned to handle the homeless population; staff pet-friendly shelters; and provide oxygen for special-needs people.

“We learned a lot through the storm. We’re still working on lessons learned and putting those lessons learned into practice,” Judge said.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter