Emergency officials' message to residents: Be prepared

By this second day of hurricane season, Lee County and Bonita Springs officials have nearly completed their checklist to make sure all the appropriate agencies are prepared in case disaster strikes.

But emergency officials are still fighting an uphill battle they seem destined to lose in what they consider to be the most important part of hurricane readiness.

Persuading the public to be primed for a hurricane.

“We are continuing our never ending quest to convince people to be prepared,” said John Wilson, Lee County Public Safety director.

If a storm strikes that is not even near the destructive strength of Hurricane Katrina last year, government and emergency officials feel most residents of Southwest Florida won’t be ready.

“People cannot expect that help is going to be there right away. It is just not feasible,” said Debbi Redfield, Bonita Springs Fire District spokeswoman. “If people haven’t done it by now, they need to go shopping for supplies this weekend.”

The fire district’s first priority is getting the roads cleared, then responding to immediate emergencies. Getting food and other relief supplies to people is part of the recovery effort, but those items might not be available right after a disaster.

“It is virtually impossible to get out there in a couple of days depending on how bad the destruction is,” Bonita Springs City Manager Gary Price said.

For residents still not prepared for the six-month storm season, Lee County and Bonita Springs are presenting a hurricane seminar for the public at 2 p.m. June 15 at First Presbyterian Church on Bonita Beach Road.

As for agency preparation, the separate emergency response organizations have been meeting over the past month to clear up the lines of communication and make sure each one knows its role following the storm.

“We’re pleased with the management response structure we have in Lee County,” Wilson said. “We’ve done well over the past two storms.”

Public Safety has been lining up resources for distribution following the storm as the department was spread thin following last year’s Hurricane Wilma. The agency is putting generators in places like schools and shelters.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office breaks up into districts during storm response and everything is routed through the Emergency Operations Center in Fort Myers. The south district, which includes Bonita Springs, Estero and San Carlos Park, met last week to go over details.

“You can do the best planning, but every storm is different, and you have to be ready to roll with the punches,” said Captain Mike Detar, incident commander for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The emergency incident teams focus on being ready for the start of hurricane season, but they constantly reevaluate plans, Detar said. There are other potential problems like brush fires during the non-hurricane season they have to be ready for too.

“It is a constant state of readiness as opposed to, ‘Oops, it’s June 1, got to flip the switch,’” he said. “We look at that date and say, ‘It begins here,’ but that readiness remains in place all year.”

Bonita Springs is still trying to get a generator for city hall, an effort that started before Hurricane Wilma last year. The government wants radios for its staff members and an updated arrangement with the American Red Cross for use of the Recreation Center as a shelter.

“I still have to depend pretty much on Lee County,” Price said.

City Code Enforcement officer Al McIntyre, a former assistant fire chief in New Jersey, is the city’s point man for hurricane readiness. He’s been working with Lee County, the Red Cross and Salvation Army, among other groups, while trying to address businesses’ needs and finding extra generators.

“We’ve just trying to catch up and praying that nothing ends up happening,” McIntyre said.