Welcome to the City of Plantation Podcast. In this episode, we have a roundtable discussion covering the fundamentals of Hurricane Preparedness. This Podcast is aimed at keeping the residents of Plantation informed of events and important information happening throughout our city. Please subscribe to this podcast, as we will be producing new episodes on a regular basis.
Hosts: DC Gordon, DivChf (acting) Lubow, and BC C. Blanchard
Produced by: Ezra Lubow
Music: Oakwood Station - Summer Breeze Memories
Cover Art: The City of Plantation
Welcome to the City of Plantation Podcast. In this episode, we have a roundtable discussion covering the fundamentals of Hurricane Preparedness. This Podcast is aimed at keeping the residents of Plantation informed of events and important information happening throughout our city. Please subscribe to this podcast, as we will be producing new episodes on a regular basis.
Hosts: DC Gordon, DivChf (acting) Lubow, and BC C. Blanchard
Produced by: Ezra Lubow
Music: Oakwood Station - Summer Breeze Memories
Cover Art: The City of Plantation
Hello plantation. Welcome to the city of plantations podcast. I'm dr. Jay formerly with plantation information radio. Thank you for tuning in. We hope the information provided within the episodes of this podcast helped keep you your family and your friends safe during this pandemic.
Speaker 2:So in today's episode, I'm joined by the medicine man, chief[inaudible] and battalion chief Carey Blanchard. And we're gonna change gears a little bit up until now. We've been talking an awful lot about COVID and all the issues related to that. But I think everybody knows at this point or should know that June 1st was the beginning of hurricane season, and it's really been so far a, an active season. Uh, we already have three names storms. One is currently brewing in the Gulf and, um, we thought it'd be a good idea to just chat with everybody a little bit about hurricane season and bout preparing, uh, you know, we we've gotten caught up in this whole COVID thing, but we really need to remember that hurricane season is not going to go away and we need to prepare for it. So gang, we're just going to open the floor and I think just have a nice open chat about what hurricane season is all about and how we prepare. Sure, absolutely. So, as I mentioned, you know, we're already there where we have three names, storms, crystal ball is currently brewing in the, um, in the Gulf. And you know, this time of year, that's not unusual to see the storms actually start in the, in the Gulf or down around, uh, Cuba and that area. Um, and most of these kind of shift off to, to the West or kind of go North. So it's probably not going to impact us here in South Florida, which is good news. But as we progress, we start to see these storms form off the, uh, off the African coast. And they start coming across the Atlantic our way. So we need to look at what NOAA national oceanic and atmospheric administration is looking at as far as predictions for the hurricane season and with dishes forecast, they've actually said they expect anywhere from 13 to 19 named storms. That means tropical storms that have escalated to a point where they have some significance to them. They believe that anywhere from six to 10 of them could become hurricanes and three to six are going to be possibly major hurricanes. Now those are a lot of numbers. And as you know, on, on our show, we don't always talk about numbers, but what's important to understand that it only takes one. And here in South Florida, you know, we've been hit several times and all you need is one good one to mess up your day. So we're really not going to focus much on the numbers, but we're going to focus on the idea that we could get a storm strike us here on the Atlantic coast. So thoughts on that guys? Well, I think that's most important. The best thing that you could do is to prepare
Speaker 3:the storm can come at any time, but if it's the beginning of the season, and if you prepare, you can be ready for it, you have to have a plan, you know, all your documents start collecting your documents, already, your insurance papers. You want to make sure that you take pictures of all of your items for insurance purposes. You want to get cash, go to the bank beforehand, before everybody gets there, and then you want to get fuel in your car. You want to make sure that you fill up your car. As you know, when the storm hits, it's impossible to get fuel.
Speaker 2:And we, we saw that with Wilma, those that go back that far to remember, um, when everything was shut down and we had no power getting gas was virtually impossible in the long lines where people stood on line or sat in line for hours just to get a couple of gallons of gas.
Speaker 4:Yeah. You know, the other thing I think we want to look at is have a plan, have an evacuation plan, um, individuals or residents that are in low lying or manufactured homes, right. Have a evacuation plan to, uh, to move out of your, your home basically for this storm. Um, possibly looking at going out of the area as well. We've talked about that before about the shelters and the status of the COVID-19 situation and how that's going to look moving forward. So, uh, having a backup plan in the event that shelters are reduced to 50% capacity or 75% capacity or whatever it may be, uh, is a, is a beneficial thing to do, uh, talk to your family members, right? Make sure that everyone's on the same page, that you have a plan that the entire family's involved with and understands and knows. And this is family that you might not necessarily live with either, right? Family that's in a different part of the state, or maybe even if different parts of the country think about shelter versus hotel versus other family. So you want to consider that. And definitely we don't want to forget about our furry friends, right? So
Speaker 2:absolutely. And that may be an issue this year. You know, the, um, there's been discussion at least at the County level on whether or not they're even going to open the pet friendly shelters. So that's something to consider, you know, and, and to go back to talk about the evacuation plan, your evacuation plan, if you are someone who feels you need to evacuate, those plans have to be put together and executed early. Um, especially now, as, as you said, Ezra, with the idea of reducing the capacity of the shelters, it's not going to be so easy just to pick up and go to a public shelter. Uh, and number two, if you are leaving, the area of the plane is to, is to get out. You got to get out before the crowds really start building. Um, you know, there's been conversations over the years about what they call contraflow of traffic, where they reverse the lanes on the highways. And we already know that that's kind of a, that becomes kind of a mess. Um, so if you're going to evacuate, have your plan ahead, head ahead, time and go early.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Think about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And there are resources. I just want to circle back to pets real quick. Cause I know a lot of people are concerned about that. Uh, there are other resources, there are a rescue organizations that, uh, maybe able to board your dog. There are, uh, vets throughout the County and various resources for pet owners, any event you can't take your pet to the shelter with you, or you run into some problems. So I'm seeking those out now and trying to have a plan. Now we'll avoid all that stress and anxiety when there's a storm bearing down on us. So just something to consider and those of you that own larger animals like horses that takes even a little more planning. So you've got to consider that as well.
Speaker 4:Right? Yup.
Speaker 2:So aside from evacuations and having a plan, there's always talk about a kit, a hurricane kit. And what are some of the things that someone should have in a well-planned hurricane kit?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, um, I think that certainly some things you need to, to think about probably one of the most important things is if you're an individual who relies on prescription medication, make sure that you have a sufficient amount of that medication, uh, throughout all of hurricane season, right? Um, most pharmacies, I know Publix for a fact, I'm not sure about the other ones, but most pharmacies will allow you as long as you have that script to have up to two or three months worth of that medication. So that's something really important that a lot of people overlook everything's closed and they're trying to find their medication. So that's something to put in a kit. Carrie, what do you got for that
Speaker 3:toiletries? You want to make sure that you have toiletries to be able to take care of yourself. You may be away from your home for a while. So you would definitely want to consider like dry shampoo is a good one. You don't need water when the resource is not available, you know, razors. So things like that, uh, wipes too, you can wipe your body down if there's no water available. Also when I have food like even snacks, but food for about three days per person, um, water for three days per person, you want to consider all of that, especially if you're going to be away from home. But even if you're at home, you want to have all that stuff available because you may not be able to go out to get these things.
Speaker 4:And I think a good point to make about food is we see a lot of people buy canned food that they wouldn't normally eat, like chef Boyardee and chili and those kind of things. And although they're sufficient for a meal nutritionally there's problems, right? And you certainly don't want to have an upset stomach or be sick when you're eating foods that you're not used to eating or you don't typically eat. So, um, maybe looking at dry foods or even if they've become very affordable, but you can get entire meals, uh, long lasting meals like military MRE style meals, uh, very inexpensively off of Amazon and, you know, bunches of other resources. And it may not be about ideas, especially if you're a larger family to have some of that for at least a couple of days. Right.
Speaker 2:And, and you can get those. I mean, you know, we talked about MRAs has ma uh, meals ready to eat, uh, the military style, but you can get those in regular commercial brands too, like door world has them for camping. Uh, you know, so there were a lot more palatable than the old style military meals. Um, you know, but you mentioned the canned goods and, um, yeah, I don't know about the chef Boyardee myself, but, um, you know, you gotta think in terms of protein and think in terms of energy type of foods, uh, but if you are going to get canned stuff, one thing you have to remember a can opener manual can opener the battery powered one on your kitchen counters, probably not,
Speaker 4:not gonna work. Yeah. And then, you know, we, we could really spend a lot of time on this, but think about how you're going to prepare food that you do have to, and one of the benefits to the long lasting food, there's, there's a exact terminology for that type of food, which I can't remember at this moment, but usually it requires boiling water. So, uh, how some would at the very least as a backup charcoal or the Bearcats a barbecue grill, something you can boil water and plus if your supply of water isn't sufficient and you need to boil water, have a means to do that. So most grills you can do that on, but you know, just some preplanning and some thought behind it.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, one of the tricks that, um, is people don't really know about or think about if, if a storm is coming, you can fill the bathtub, uh, you can plug it and just, uh, one or two drops of bleach or, or even pool chlorine in a tub full of water and only one or two drops. Uh, and that gives you potable water that you can drink or, or cook with. Right? Yup. Yup. Absolutely. And I think I want to go back and we kinda, we kinda mentioned it, but Carrie, you mentioned that the three days, the 72 hours, and I think that's a critical benchmark for everybody to understand is when you do make your plan and you do put your kit together, you have to think about the supplies that you're going to need for up to three days. And maybe we can explain to our audience why those three days are important. So the reason for the three days is once we go into what's called response and recovery mode, it's going to take the cities or the agencies about three days to handle the immediate emergencies and to manage the crisis. So before we can actually get to you and start supplying services and start providing those essential needs, and we can get services inbound to where they can set up and start operating. The, the rule of thumb is about 72 hours or three days where you kind of need to be independent, not, not relying on those services to come into.
Speaker 4:And the one thing, the one important thing to highlight and emphasize about the 72 hours is that's an absolute minimum, right? That's not a maximum. So most of us should be planning on having enough supplies to last longer than that, but at a minimum minimum, correct, you should have 72 hours worth of supplies. And I think one thing we forgot and I want to circle back, or maybe it was mentioned, and I apologize if I'm repeating it as cash, right? Cash is King banks may be down. Communication lines may be down things of that nature maybe down. So, you know, paying with an Apple watch or paying with a credit card or a debit card might not work. So having a little bit of cash, uh, that you can utilize to buy emergency supplies or gas or water or fuel or whatever it may be is not a bad idea.
Speaker 2:Correct. And you know, one of the things that we, we tend to also forget about it is we become so technology based in our society and technology is dependent upon power. But if the lines are down, your batteries are only gonna last so long. So going back to the old school way of doing things, like you said, cash paper and pencil, uh, you know, those sorts of things that we just don't think about anymore become critical.
Speaker 4:And you know, there are alternatives in modern times too, that I think we don't talk about, but we don't talk about a lot. You can have solar battery charters. They're very inexpensive. You can buy a solar battery charger that will charge batteries. Usually the standard sizes, AAA AA, C and D, but you can utilize our flashlights or, you know, powered radios, not about idea to invest a couple of dollars in a weather radio, right? Something that I have, one that has a crank on it. So you crank it for about five minutes and you get about 15 minutes worth of radio, not about idea in case we lose power, we lose cellular connection. You have a means to here, you know, what's going on around you. So all these little things help.
Speaker 3:I just want to mention one other thing that really could help. A lot of people is talking about cleaning debris and trimming trees in their homes. You protect your home and your protect the homes of the, of your neighbors. So I think that's, you know, really important that some people tend to forget. They just run out of time. Sometimes when we're waiting till the last minute, you can start early and plan early, that's something that can get done.
Speaker 4:And what do you think, can you provide some examples of not just debris, but other items that are typically in all of our backyards that could be missile hazards? I mean, can you, what would be some things
Speaker 3:chairs like your chairs that you sit by the pool they're light, so it can be easily picked up. You can, you know, like by the wind, so you can collect those things rafts, like for the pool, like floats or whatever people use, which isn't a huge hazard, but it will end up everywhere with, you know, making a mess of things. Sure.
Speaker 2:Well, and you, you know, you, you said you talked about trimming the trees. Um, of course the stuff that we have loose on our patio, that's the stuff we bring in when we, when we start, when, when a storm starts approaching, but trimming trees, the time to, to that is now not waiting until we get to a storm or a storm. Right. Um, you know, and things we don't even think about with trees like Palm trees are real, real common here in South Florida. It's not really the a hundred mile an hour wind. That's going to take out your neighbor's window. It's the a hundred mile an hour coconut.
Speaker 4:Well, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that's, you know, so that's where I think we're moving is the barbecue grill, right? Leave that in the garage during the storm and then bring it out afterwards. Um, cook in the garage. Don't, don't cook in the garage, we'll go over do's and don'ts. But, um, you know, think about any lumber that you have any, uh, loose stuff that can be picked up and propelled. So there's, I mean, we can't cover everything. There's a lot of different things, but just stuff to consider kids bicycles. The last dorm kids, bicycles were all over the place, uh, picked up out of there.
Speaker 2:My favorite vision is the big backyard trampoline. It turns into a satellite
Speaker 4:yeah. Going through the air. So yeah, those are all good things to consider. So Carrie talked to us about some storm terminology.
Speaker 3:Uh, well there's, I guess there's stages of the storms, you know, tropical depression. This is where it starts before it's even named and they become a tropical storm. It's increased by the wind speed. Right. Then it becomes a hurricane. The hurricanes are category one through five and again, dictated by the wind speed.
Speaker 2:And that's where people hear the term Safir Simpson scale,
Speaker 4:correct? Yeah. That we see all over the news and my favorite guy, Bryan Norcross.
Speaker 2:Yeah. The hero hero of hurricane Andrew.
Speaker 3:My favorite guy, there's also a storm surge, which is probably the most dangerous part of, you know, the hurricanes and then the eye of the storm, which is where there appears to be calm when the second half is going to come through.
Speaker 2:And, and that's, that's critically important for people to understand the concept of the eye. Why is that?
Speaker 3:Because it gives you a false sense of everything's going to be okay, you're, you're safe now. And the truth is that, you know,
Speaker 2:exactly you're hunkered down and the storm is blowing. And then all of a sudden there's blue skies on your sunshine, you know? Right. And everybody's like, Oh wow, let's go outside. And that doesn't last very long. Doesn't it?
Speaker 4:And the crazy thing is I think we lose perspective of the actual sizes of the storms, right? These are some of these storms are miles and miles and dozens of miles across. And we see it on a satellite image. So it's a hard for us to get a perspective on exactly how big it is, so that I could be a couple miles across and we could have that timeframe where there's general calm and we're going, Hey, let's go out. Let's, let's go do our thing. Let's go assess the damage. Right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And that's where that whole scale of the different sizes of the power of the storms comes in. Uh, you know, the San Francisco scale rates them from a one to a five.
Speaker 4:Why don't you, can you go into those shows?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So you know that we hear that we have a terminology, one category, two, et cetera, et cetera. And it's important to know that when you go, when you progress from a tropical storm into what is considered a hurricane, the category one hurricanes are those that have low, lower wind speeds. We'll call it, um, anywhere from 74 to 95 miles an hour. And those are the ones where you may see some tree debris come down, you see some tree branches, maybe some signs knocked over, et cetera, et cetera, as it begins to pick up power and pick up speed, then we get into the category. Two, those are anywhere from 96 to 110 miles an hour now is where you start to see maybe, uh, you know, power lines start to come down, trees get knocked over, um, the category three and higher. Those are the ones that are considered major hurricanes category. Three storm starts at 111 miles an hour. It can go up to 120. Uh, and here you start to see structural damage. And of course the category four and the category five are just, just horrific. Um, you know, we think back those that remember hurricane Andrew, hurricane Andrew was eventually classified as a category five storm when it hit, when it hit. And we all saw the damage that it did. So category five, you're talking significant, significant damage. You know, there's a question too. And I hear this a lot when I'm talking to people out and about, we talk about the dirty edge of the dirty side and the clean, can you, one of you, what's the difference between those? So really what it comes down to is if you think about how a storm travels and here on the East coast, most of our, our tropical cyclones as they call them, um, they rotate in a clockwise fashion and they move northward Northwest. So as the storm travels northward and it, and it's rotating, if it's moving at a hundred miles, if the wind speed is a hundred miles an hour, let's say for argument's sake and it's moving at five miles an hour forward. Now you have a wind speed on the upper side of 105 miles an hour. Right. All right. And as it comes whipping around, it has picked up all that debris and all that, whatever it's collecting and on the downside, it's bringing all that with it, all the rain, all the water, all the debris, that's the dirty side of the storm, where all the garbage is where we get all the rain and all the debris. Correct. The clean side, I guess, is the opposite of the wind side. Right. Right. Okay. All right. Very good. I want to spend a minute and talk about storm surge. Carrie, you mentioned storm surge before a lot of people don't understand exactly what that means when they think of storm surge and talk about an eight foot storm surge, a 10 foot storm surge. They're thinking of like this giant wall of water that's coming at them, you know, like a, like a tsunami. Um, what it really is, is sea rise. And the pressure from the storm pushes the water upward. And when they say storm surge, the water levels can actually rate, raise to that.
Speaker 4:And that's significant because there are parts of Florida. We were actually under sea level, which means that, that, that has to be taken into consideration. So if we have an eight foot storm surge and we have a low lying area in Florida, that's two feet under sea level, we're talking about 10 additional feet now in that
Speaker 2:gap rack. And this is one of the reasons we tell people if you live in a low lying area, consider
Speaker 4:considerably. Yeah, absolutely. So Carrie talked to us about shutters.
Speaker 3:Okay. Um, there's different kinds of shuttering. Um, some people have impact windows, so you don't, there's no need to shutter, but when you're going to shutter, the idea is to plan ahead. If you need help, get help recruit help. Because when everybody's busy, you might not find anybody to help you. Especially if you have second story in your house, those are more difficult to get to. Um, plywood is an option. If there are people that don't have shutters, so plywood is definitely an option, but that's another one of those things that I would suggest you get to home Depot fairly,
Speaker 2:right. We always see the news footage of people lined up at home Depot as the wind is blowing, trying to grab the sheets of plywood
Speaker 4:plan ahead, measure early, right. What's the saying measure twice cut once or,
Speaker 2:and you know, one of the things that we see in, in, you know, uh, as we're, you can probably address this better than anybody is the EMS chief. Most of the injuries that we see either prior to, or after a storm involve handling shutters.
Speaker 4:Well, and that's just it, I was, you know, I was going to interject that because we do see an increase of traumatic style injuries, whether it be falls or, or cuts or injuries from power tools. Because really, I think a lot of people try to wait till the last minute and then take on these big jobs by themselves. So the buddy system, when you're putting up shutters or hanging plywood, like Carrie mentioned, is always a good idea. Always try and have more than one person doing these things. Obviously there are situations where you get caught or stuck because of work or whatever it may be, but it's always a good idea to have more than one person, be careful exercise caution, don't be in a rush and, uh, you know, try and avoid having to call EMS
Speaker 2:sturdy gloves and eye protection.
Speaker 4:Correct. Absolutely all the proper safety,
Speaker 2:you know, and one of the rules of thumb is if you've never used a chainsaw before, now's not the time to learn
Speaker 4:her, her eye. So circling back to shutter. So we talked about impact windows and then w what are the other plywood? And then there's couple other variations on shutter. So
Speaker 3:absolutely there's accordion shutters. Those are a little easier to handle. Most people can do it by themselves.
Speaker 4:How about the panels, the corrugated aluminum panel, shutters that people put up with the butterfly screws. And so, yeah, and I, I guess I was, I was trying to lead down that because when it comes to accordion shutters, which are great, I think it's very easy to utilize the problem with those becomes, if you haven't maintain those or service them throughout the year, then the tracks get full of debris, Russ dust, whatever it may be. It makes it very difficult to close those. So I think a lot of people take for granted, I've, I've, uh, you know, accordion shutters, when the storm gets close, I'll shut up.
Speaker 2:I don't have to think about it. It's not a bad idea to take a look, pull out the WD 40. And this is all part of your plan, part of getting ready prior to the season setting in. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and going back to the, the, not the according to the car gated shutters, um, and I think down here in Florida, we have this addressed, but going back a few years, you could actually buy lighter weight, um, you know, panels the acrylic. Right. But what's important to understand is they have to meet the Dade County code in order to be sturdy enough. So make sure you know, what you're buying and what you're putting up.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. All right. Well, the other thing we want to talk about is we want to talk about generator safety generators are becoming more and more prevalent, more and more inexpensive that you can buy them from so many different resources in places, home Depot, Walmart, right at your neighborhood store. So the one thing like everything else, test it out, make sure you have fuel ma make sure it's maintained. If you need to have oil, depending on the model. So models are closed loop system. You don't have to add oil or check it, but if you do check that, make sure that you have gas. And the biggest thing with generator safety is, um, you definitely want to make sure that you're not running it in doors.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:And when we say that, we also mean in your garage with your, in your garage with the garage door open is considered indoors anywhere near an open window or door, correct? Yeah. Lastly, just make sure you're using the appropriate extension cords for it. They should be heavy duty. They should be rated for the amount of amperage, wattage, and voltage. That's going to run through them and just think about that.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, and, and let's, let's just spend another minute or two on why you don't run a generator in doors and why you don't run in your open windows.
Speaker 3:Sure. Gary exhaust kills you. And this is what kills a lot of people during storms is actually the exhaust from these machines, these generators that people are using indoors there, you know, it's raining outside. They don't want to leave it outside, but they want their AC to run or their fan to run. And that's,
Speaker 2:and the exhaust contains what's called carbon monoxide, which is it's important to understand that, you know, aren't, I run my generator. If I smell something funky, I'll just move it. But carbon monoxide is, you know, it's known as a silent killer, right? You can't see it, you can smell it. And really all you do is fall asleep and not wake up again.
Speaker 4:Right. And a point, a point of advice on that is when little white thing that's attached to your ceiling, most of them are white. They may be other colors, but when that starts beeping your little SCIO detector, don't smack it with a towel or a stick to tell it to shut up. Must be dead. Yeah. It might be telling you that there's a problem. So make sure we're paying attention to that.
Speaker 2:I just want to make one last point about that. You definitely want to shut down the machine before you refuel it. Yeah, absolutely. I don't try to think that you can keep everything running while you're refueling or gas over a hot manifold. Right? Absolutely. So, you know, the, the other things we want to talk about, one of the other things is flooding there really, when talk about hurricanes, you talk about two different types of storms. It's either a wind event or a rain event. Um, sometimes you get a combo of both. You may not, you may have a storm, that's like a category one or category two. And we think to ourselves, especially here in Florida, category one storm, that's kind of a no brainer. You know, for us, it's just, it's old news, but they do tend to bring a lot of rain and flooding. And we already mentioned about storm surge, but here again, you can start to see, you know, all water buildup and in pocketed areas where, you know, we, we, we don't realize it. Um, you know, fortunately plantation, we're always proud of the fact that we don't tend to flood a whole lot, or there are some areas where they do. But I think the biggest thing to understand is when you do see that flooding stay away, you know, we think, Oh, wow, look, there's something we can plan, but it's, it's nasty. Um, there's, you know, there's, there's critters, there's bugs in there and there may even be energized down wires. And we know what happens when you put electricity and water together. So I think the biggest thing to remember, and even when you're driving, you know, you see a flooded street turn around, don't drown.
Speaker 4:Right. And we don't know. I mean, that's the biggest thing. My kids love to play in puddles. Like every kid on a grown up. Yeah. But the problem with that is you, you don't know if there's a, uh, a little pothole in there, little uneven ground or something that you could fall down in hit your head. You don't know what's underneath the surface. Right. It's dark water. You can't see through it. So definitely have to exercise caution.
Speaker 2:And if there's running water or flowing water, you don't necessarily know how powerful it is or how.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. So the other thing we want to talk about is, is what did you during the storm? Okay. And I know a lot of us are fascinated by watching the, uh, branches off of trees and pump forums go by and you know, everything else that's going by, but it's really important to stay inside. And I think a lot of people are under the misconception that we ask you to stay inside. Not because we're concerned that a 90 mile an hour gust is going to pick you up and take you to Kansas, but more because we're concerned about the mental hazards that are out there, right? The debris, the pieces of the things that maybe your neighbor did insecure, uh, those things are going to try be moving at a high rate of speed and potentially hurt you. So staying inside is important. We talk about staying in the center of your home, right? We talked about that because structurally on average, that is the strongest part of your home. So being there, you have a better chance of structural integrity maintaining itself. If you run into a situation where the storm is really starting to damage your home.
Speaker 2:And I think it's important that, you know, we, you mentioned impact windows. People need to understand if you've never experienced this. The impact window is designed not to give in. It's going to shatter. If it gets hit with something. So you're standing there, staring out the window, watching the world, go by. And again, that hundred mile coconut Hunter, mine, an coconut comes at you, the glass is going to shatter. It's not going to collapse, but you're still going to get broken glass. You're still going to get shards that may be coming at you. So it's not a good idea.
Speaker 4:Right. Right. And the various types of windows. Right. I think, um, there's the dual panes that have the argon in the middle. And so what happens is the outer pane breaks and people are like, Oh my God, my window broke. Well, yes and no, because you still have that other layer of, you know, layered glass, that's going to provide some protections. So something to think about.
Speaker 2:So, you know, the, and we mentioned already about the eye and not going out during the eye. Right. Yep. You know, and I think the other thing that people need to understand is, and this is why you need that plan. If you have an emergency during the storm and you call nine one, one, there is a pretty good chance. No, one's going to be able to get to you.
Speaker 4:And why don't you go over that? What is a, you know, I mean the basics obviously, but what's, what are we looking for for benchmarks, for a lockdown when we aren't going to be going out and responding to calls.
Speaker 2:So really, you know, most, most cities and most, most agencies will tell you that anytime the winds get above that 40, 45 mile an hour range, it's not safe for vehicles to be on the road. Uh, you know, the, the fire trucks will tolerate a little more because they have the weight in them. So we can actually cheat the system a little bit. Um, but police cars at 40 miles an hour probably cannot be out there sustained. Right. Correct. Sustaining and not Gus, but sustained winds. Yeah. So what's going to happen is we're going to pull our vehicles off the road and we're going to go into what's called lockdown. Uh, and basically we really can't roll cause the chances of us getting to you are minimized and that means more people now are injured. More people are in trouble. So, you know, that's why that plan for you is so crucial to be able to manage yourselves during the storm.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. And I don't, I mean, just to clarify, we're not suggesting that you don't pop your head out of your door, you know, look at the eye and take a couple minutes of a breather. What we're saying is don't get in your car and go out and about, and start traveling around your neighborhood. Right.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you're aware of the weather forecast as that eye is passing over when they anticipate that it's going to go.
Speaker 4:Right? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think most people's initial reaction is to go tour, see what exactly. You're not going to do it
Speaker 2:good out there. You're only going to you. And you know, and since you mentioned that, um, you know, we've seen this so many times when the storm is over, you know, when, when it passes, everybody goes running outside and taking a look and once to assess the damage. And of course you get the people with their cell phones and their video cameras that want to send their friends in Nebraska, you know, pictures of what happened here in South Florida, but they need to appreciate the fact that we as emergency responders have to get through, we have to get to those people. Who've been calling nine one one and couldn't get help. And, and you know, if you were driving around or walking around, you're actually creating an even greater.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. You could. Yeah. So here's what we want you to do after the storm. We want you to secure your family. We want you to do a quick assessment and make sure that everybody's okay. Feeling good, doing good, depending on the length of time that you've been in your home and in a lockdown mode, so to speak. So we want you to do that. We want you to secure your home. If there's any damage to your home, we want you to do the best that you can insecurity. If they're significant damage to your home, we want you to leave your home if you can. Right. Um, so that you're not staying there in that environment, we're going to do a rapid impact assessment of the storm damage. Most, every municipality is we utilize a grid system, we split it up, we send units out. So we're going to be out and about pretty rapidly after the storm passes to do this assessment and, and determine the damage to our city. And that's what Joel was talking about is it's very difficult for us to navigate roadways, especially if there's a lot of debris damaged trees down. If our residents are out in force in their vehicles, driving around doing the same thing. So we'd ask that you exercise a little bit of caution when it comes to that. And, um, you know, listen up for, for, uh, for media, for updates, if there is media, right? If we have electricity, if the cellular networks are working, uh, if not tune into that, that radio that you have on standby, but trying to stay informed in any way that you can,
Speaker 2:Hey, you know, just to touch back on the rapid impact assessment, that's important for us to know where the bulk of the damages, but for the, for the average citizen, if for some reason you can't get a hold of nine one one, if there's an emergency, knowing that there will be police cars, fire trucks, and even public works vehicles going up and down the roads, um, put out a sign, put out a message, need help, something like that. And when we come by, we'll see that
Speaker 4:right. Absolutely. Yep, absolutely. So, uh, city officials, information resources, uh, what do we have there, Carrie?
Speaker 3:Well, your best bet is to go straight to the source. We want to have reputable and official sources to get our information from, for the city. We have daily updates on, uh, actual phone line. Um, we have Twitter, Facebook, next door, every bridge sends out messages. If it's important and our website, we also have the hotlines that you can call in. That's what we were talking about. And then our information is updated daily twice a day during emergency operations,
Speaker 4:right. Uh, and good possibility. We're not going to be podcasting through this. So we need all that power and wifi and all those, those things that we may not have. So, uh, the sources that Carrie mentioned are your absolute best sources.
Speaker 2:And it's important to go to the official sources of information. I know we've seen in the past and we know there's, everybody gets their news off Facebook or, you know, goes to dr. Google for their medical information. Um, but a lot of times that information is somebody's opinion. Um, so make sure when you're making decisions about what to do and how to do it, you're getting the information from the official source. So it's the right information. So you can make the right decision.
Speaker 4:Right? And I, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I want to circle back to the, after the storm. So what we see a lot of what we get a lot of is individuals who run out of oxygen or medication, and they come to the fire stations and, you know, we're there, we're, we're there for our community. We're willing to help we'll, we'll do what it takes to get you assistance and help, but understand there's certain things we can't do. We can't give you an oxygen bottle. We're not legally allowed to do that. We can't give you a surplus of medications. And the one that I think is most prevalent is medications for asthma. We just can't give those to you. We can make you a patient. We can assess you, we can do those things, and then we can administer the medication. So just keep that in mind, we're there for you. We'll do whatever we can to provide for you and help you. But there are certain limitations that we have for your medical needs, right? I mean, yeah.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that we saw with Wilma also was we saw people running to the emergency rooms that were running out of medications and running out of oxygen and they were jamming up the emergency rooms. And this all goes back to that, have a plan to prepare ahead of time.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I definitely think that having a plan in place and it doesn't have to be a, you know, a spreadsheet with details and, you know, exact actions, although that would be something I would do those issues, but there is medication for that. But, um, but if you have a basic fundamental plan of how you're going to do things and, and, uh, you know, think about the things you're not thinking about, right. And that's a problem we all run into. All of us is, you know, what am I missing here? So maybe you get with a family member, you don't do it by yourself. There are tons of resources. If you go to fema.com or fema.gov, I'm sorry. Um, tons of resources on preparation, hurricane prep kits, they get down to, you know, item by item. There's checklists, all kinds of resources on fema.gov.
Speaker 2:So it, it, you know, it's important have that plan be prepared. Um, you know, hurricane season is here. So, you know, thank you everybody for taking the time. Uh, again, we're wrapped up in the middle of this COVID stuff and that's what we're concentrating on, but it's important. We are in hurricane season and everybody needs to be aware of that.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And don't forget if you have any questions, obviously, while everything's up and running and we have power and internet and wifi, uh, you can always submit those questions to ask city hall, plantation.org. Uh, any questions that we can address on the show on the podcast, put those forward. Any topics that you might be interested in or want to hear about. We'll certainly put it through the process and, uh, try and get you those answers.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. All right. Stay safe, everyone. Thank you both. And take care, take care. You've been listening to the city of planned
Speaker 1:patient podcast here in plantation. We're working hard to bring you the latest, most accurate information available about the coronavirus pandemic. Remember, if you have specific questions, you can email them to ask cityHall@plantation.org. Don't forget to visit the COVID-19 page on our website and register forever bridge for up to the minute changes regarding the outbreak. We want to thank you for tuning in and taking the time to listen to the experts about how to keep yourselves, your family and your business safe and healthy during the prices. And don't forget to wash your hands, cover your cough and maintain a safe distance.