As Hurricane Season Looms, State Officials Scramble To Update Evacuation, Safety Plans
Evacuating during a pandemic would be a "nightmare," officials say. But the forecast for an active season is grim for Southern states traditionally in the path of devastating storms.
The Associated Press:
Many States Scrambling To Update Hurricane Plans For Virus
Officials across the U.S. South are still scrambling to adjust their hurricane plans to the coronavirus. The big unknown: Where will people fleeing storms go? The Associated Press surveyed more than 70 counties and states from Texas to Virginia, with more than 60% of coastal counties saying as of late May that they’re still solidifying plans for public hurricane shelters. They’re also altering preparations for dealing with the sick and elderly, protective equipment and cleanup costs. (Borenstein, 5/31)
Politico:
States Brace For Disasters As Pandemic Collides With Hurricane Season
Officials from Florida to Missouri are hurriedly rewriting their disaster plans, worried that crowding large groups of evacuees in shelters could spread coronavirus during what’s expected to be a busy hurricane and tornado season. Firefighters in Colorado are working social distancing into their strategy for tackling long-duration wildfires. And New York City is spending $55 million on air conditioners for low-income seniors in public housing, to keep them away from cooling centers that draw hundreds during heat waves. (Goldberg and Ehley, 6/1)
NPR:
Hurricane Evacuation Plans Create New Worries During Coronavirus Pandemic
Robin Rokobauer doesn't like to chance it. When there's a hurricane, she almost always evacuates. Rokobauer lives in Cocoa Beach, Fla., on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and 153-mile-long Indian River Lagoon. Her mother is 93. "She's got to have flushing toilets," Rokobauer says of her mother. "She's got to have fresh water. She's just got some physical needs that require that." (Bruggers and Green, 6/1)
The New York Times:
States Warn That Virus May Doom Climate Projects
Connecticut is preparing to build a first-of-its-kind underground flood wall. Virginia has planned an intricate system of berms, pump stations and raised roads to keep the flood-prone city of Norfolk dry. Louisiana has broken ground on a new community for people forced to flee a village on its sinking coast, the country’s first government-resettled climate migrants. Projects in 13 cities and states, which were part of the Obama administration’s push to protect Americans from climate change after the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, are now in jeopardy because of the coronavirus pandemic, state and local officials warn. And they need Republicans in Congress to save those projects. (Flavelle, 6/1)
