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Get Hurricane Ready: Should you stay or should you go? · Inside West Palm Beach

• 0:09
  Welcome to the City Center podcast from West Palm Beach,
• 0:12
  Florida.
• 0:13
  I'm Jerry Marcelo.
• 0:16
  There's no question that people living in West Palm Beach should take hurricanes seriously.
• 0:22
  The past few seasons have produced a string of hurricanes that were fearsome in power and capable of great destruction.
• 0:29
  2024 is no exception with a record number of name storms expected between now and the end of November.
• 0:37
  The question before all of us.
• 0:38
  Now that hurricane season is here,
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  should we ride out the storm in our homes or should we plan to evacuate to a location better suited for the powerful winds and endless rains?
• 0:49
  Joining me today to talk about it is Assistant fire Chief Brent Bloomfield Brent.
• 0:54
  Welcome.
• 0:56
  Thank you.
• 0:56
  Good to be here.
• 0:57
  Most people are aware that tropical storms shouldn't be messed with.
• 1:01
  We've had some doozies in the last few years.
• 1:04
  Let's go over a little bit of the background.
• 1:06
  You know,
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  we had Ian a few years ago.
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  How bad was that?
• 1:10
  Yeah.
• 1:10
  So we've in the last,
• 1:12
  you know,
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  seven years since I've been in emergency management,
• 1:15
  we've had some major storms come through Florida.
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  You know,
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  Michael Ian Edia.
• 1:19
  You know,
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  we've been hit by multiple storms and that people don't even realize they don't think about,
• 1:23
  you know,
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  we had Nicole two years ago and because of what happened on the west coast,
• 1:27
  it was an afterthought.
• 1:28
  We did have flooding and the city,
• 1:30
  we had to go get up some trapped people.
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  So we had,
• 1:33
  you know,
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  we've had some issues in the last few years and thank God,
• 1:36
  um,
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  probably about seven years ago,
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  we had a Hurricane Matthew,
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  we escaped because of what we call the wobble.
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  You know,
• 1:42
  it wobbled out.
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  Hurricane Irma was a big one for us.
• 1:44
  We caught it tree maged and we had tons of trees down in the city,
• 1:47
  lots of power lines down.
• 1:49
  Um,
• 1:49
  you know,
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  we had a lot of disruption in service.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  we have been affected by storms,
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  not on the scale of,
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  of course,
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  the panhandle on the west coast,
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  but this,
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  this season is gonna be a very busy season.
• 2:01
  They're expecting tons of storms.
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  So as long as we prepare,
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  I think we'll be in good shape.
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  Right.
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  So preparation and being ready for a storm is key to getting through one.
• 2:10
  Yeah.
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  So being prepared early,
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  you know,
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  we start in the city on around April 1st.
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  We actually I sent out emails and we start to look at our generators do we have?
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  And as our,
• 2:20
  as our equipment up and running,
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  you know,
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  our shutters working on our on our stations,
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  our sh is working on on the other structures in the city.
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  These are the things that we start to prepare for early.
• 2:29
  We start to get all of our water and we start to get all of our,
• 2:32
  our food rations prepared as early as May 1st.
• 2:35
  So that's today.
• 2:36
  Um And I would say that most people I know there's gonna be some amnesty days coming up,
• 2:40
  the tax free days.
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  You know,
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  I would say make sure you prepare early,
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  make sure you get your rations early,
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  make sure that your meds are up early,
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  make sure you got your pet food.
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  All of these things are,
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  are critical when it comes to time when a hurricane hits.
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  It's really important to be not part of that long line.
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  You see on the news of people lining up for gas and lining up at Home Depot,
• 2:59
  you got to get out there early,
• 3:01
  get it done now.
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  Yeah,
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  you don't want to wait till 24 hours before a storm comes there because there's a lot of people that are gonna be lining up and then you have a problem where there's no nothing on the shelves anymore.
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  You're kind of,
• 3:11
  you know,
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  battling for scraps at that point.
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  You may not get the water that you need,
• 3:15
  you may not get the food.
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  You know,
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  the big one is definitely your prescriptions.
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  Make sure you get those early because that is something that a lot of people forget.
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  And then,
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  you know,
• 3:22
  they're running out of their prescription meds two or three days after the storm and it's very difficult to go get them again.
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  Same thing with your pets,
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  make sure that they have adequate food and water as well.
• 3:30
  Today,
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  we're gonna be talking about a really important question that everyone who is planning for a storm needs to ask themselves.
• 3:38
  Should we stay in place during a storm in our home or should we try to evacuate?
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  Um,
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  let's go over some of the checklist that would help you answer that question.
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  First of all,
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  location of your home,
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  I think is very important.
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  Is that correct?
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  Extremely important.
• 3:53
  Yeah,
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  if you are in a evacuation zone and you're ordered to evacuate,
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  evacuate the end.
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  Ok.
• 3:59
  All right.
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  So say I'm going well,
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  gee you know,
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  am I in a,
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  in a flood zone?
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  Am I in a place that needs to evacuate?
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  How,
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  how does someone find that information?
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  So there's various methods we have on,
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  uh W pb.org/hurricane,
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  you can actually go there and they have the flood maps.
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  We have the flood maps there.
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  Palm Beach County.
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  Also,
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  if you go to Palm Beach County de Department of Emergency Management,
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  they have the flood zones there and the evacuation maps there as well.
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  And then of course,
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  fema if you go to FEMA flood zones,
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  you can actually tap your type,
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  your address in and it'll tell you exactly what zone you're in,
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  whether you're in an A which is gonna flood B,
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  which is likely to flood C,
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  which is,
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  could possibly flood or XX means you're likely to not flood.
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  However,
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  there's still a possibility if we don't.
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  In the past,
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  we've had issues where um if they didn't open certain flood gates to let the water out those areas that were even called X would flood.
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  And then once they opened the gates,
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  the flood,
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  you know,
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  the flooding went away.
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  But we have had problems with that in the past now.
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  And that's actually a really interesting point because people automatically go.
• 4:58
  Oh,
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  well,
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  if I'm not like on the beach or I'm on the water,
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  I'm ok.
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  That's not necessarily true in this part of the world.
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  Well,
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  because South Florida,
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  you know,
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  we have,
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  it's full of waterways,
• 5:09
  right.
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  We have lakes,
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  we have retention ponds,
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  we have canals everywhere.
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  So we're surrounded by water constantly.
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  It only takes one flood area to not open up one of the gates,
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  not open up one of the,
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  the uh dams to be blocked and all of a sudden you get flooding behind it.
• 5:26
  Wow.
• 5:26
  Ok.
• 5:26
  So it's important to really know if you're thinking about staying at home,
• 5:31
  if the home is in going to be protected and safe from flooding in this extreme situation.
• 5:37
  Yeah,
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  that's more of a very extreme situation.
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  I mean,
• 5:40
  like in my neighborhood,
• 5:40
  take it.
• 5:41
  For instance,
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  you know,
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  we have all these flood,
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  uh,
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  these,
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  uh,
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  grates in the roadway that,
• 5:45
  that are for storm drain.
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  You know,
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  they're for drain,
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  draining the water after a storm and usually they work very well.
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  However,
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  if they get clogged by leaves and branches and debris,
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  you could have a backup and it's as easy as,
• 5:57
  you know,
• 5:58
  sometimes just going out there after,
• 5:59
  of course,
• 6:00
  we're talking after a storm,
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  not during a storm,
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  do not do this during a storm.
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  But after a storm,
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  sometimes it's as easy as taking a shovel or rake and just clearing that storm drain and a lot of times that water will dissipate.
• 6:09
  Got you now,
• 6:10
  ok.
• 6:11
  Say I live in a home that is relatively protected from flooding or there's a very low history of flooding in the area.
• 6:18
  Is there anything else I should be looking at at the home as far as protecting it from hurricane winds?
• 6:24
  Yeah.
• 6:24
  So for us,
• 6:25
  so let's start with the flooding aspect.
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  So,
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  like yesterday,
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  we had uh torrential rains.
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  We had almost five inches of rain in,
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  in a,
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  in a very short time if your yard and your house,
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  uh drains properly.
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  Usually even with five inches of rain.
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  Like we got this last couple of days.
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  You're,
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  you're in pretty good,
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  you know,
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  that you can probably drain probably in pretty good shape,
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  the things that get your house ready,
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  you know,
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  make sure.
• 6:45
  Now that your shutters are up.
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  Make sure now that you can put your shutters up correctly,
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  make sure that you're,
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  you know,
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  if you have,
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  uh,
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  the,
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  uh,
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  uh,
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  the Accordions that they're working properly,
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  make sure that,
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  um,
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  you know,
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  just the basic parts of your house.
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  You know,
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  if you have an older roof,
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  just maybe have it inspected before storm season.
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  Um,
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  you may wanna make sure if you have,
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  uh,
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  a generator hook up that,
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  that's working properly.
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  If you have a generator,
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  this is the time to fuel it start.
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  It,
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  make sure it's working properly.
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  Because what happens is as we get closer to the hurricane season,
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  as we get closer to a storm coming,
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  all of those people that do those things,
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  um,
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  they're busy because what happens is people wait till the last second and then now here comes all the phone calls.
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  Right.
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  Right.
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  Ok.
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  So you,
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  we checked our home,
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  we feel good about it.
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  Uh,
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  we've talked a little bit about making sure that we have the appropriate supplies.
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  Now,
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  do I need to have supplies for weeks and weeks or how long?
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  Yeah.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  the standard was,
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  um,
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  you know,
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  up to a couple of days.
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  However,
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  you know,
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  I really think a week is about right.
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  So,
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  get enough water,
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  get enough,
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  uh,
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  rations for a week.
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  If you do that,
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  usually you're in pretty good shape even during,
• 7:51
  um,
• 7:52
  I was deployed to hurricane Michael.
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  And even during hurricane Michael as bad as Mexico Beach and Panama Beach where we were still getting to people within three or four days.
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  Even on the islands,
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  we were actually flying in choppers to the islands to make sure that they were accessible because sometimes uh like on the west coast or up in uh the Panhandle,
• 8:10
  the bridges go out and you can't really get there by vehicle.
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  Um There usually are very evacuation areas and you should evacuate.
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  However,
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  we did,
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  uh,
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  land choppers on those and we did do searches on those islands even so we were,
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  we were there within three or four days.
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  I hate to say it in Florida,
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  but we became,
• 8:27
  it's almost old hat anymore.
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  We became very good at hurricanes and about deployments and,
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  and urban search and rescue,
• 8:34
  post,
• 8:35
  post storm.
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  Um,
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  you know,
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  I almost wish we weren't as good as we were,
• 8:39
  but we've had so many storms that we've become very good at.
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  And so I would say a week if you,
• 8:43
  if you get seven days worth of stuff,
• 8:46
  you should be in really,
• 8:47
  really good shape.
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  And it,
• 8:48
  and the best part about it is after hurricane season's over,
• 8:50
  have a little party.
• 8:51
  That's right.
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  Now.
• 8:53
  Uh,
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  you make a very good point in the fact that unfortunately,
• 8:57
  we have gotten very,
• 8:58
  very good at post storm rescue and,
• 9:02
  and recovery.
• 9:03
  Um,
• 9:04
  what about in the middle of a storm?
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  Say I'm in my house and things are really going bad for me.
• 9:09
  Is there someone I can turn to?
• 9:11
  Yeah.
• 9:11
  So in the fire department we do have,
• 9:14
  uh,
• 9:14
  in the police department as well.
• 9:15
  We do have wind speed requirements where we won't go out.
• 9:18
  And that is,
• 9:19
  you know,
• 9:19
  once we get,
• 9:20
  you know,
• 9:20
  start getting tropical storm force winds sustained,
• 9:23
  um,
• 9:23
  we can't risk going out with our vehicles,
• 9:26
  you know,
• 9:26
  um,
• 9:26
  our trucks,
• 9:27
  especially,
• 9:28
  um,
• 9:28
  the rescue trucks.
• 9:29
  They're,
• 9:29
  they're,
• 9:30
  they have a high profile so they,
• 9:32
  they could tend to tip over and we've had it happen before,
• 9:35
  um,
• 9:35
  in some other areas.
• 9:36
  So we,
• 9:37
  we really,
• 9:38
  you know,
• 9:39
  we really like to wait until the storm clears and the winds die down a little bit before we actually start sending units out.
• 9:44
  The one thing is,
• 9:45
  is if you do call 911 during it,
• 9:47
  that it gets queued and then what happens is we start responding to those calls after the fact after the fact,
• 9:53
  but during the event,
• 9:55
  during the event,
• 9:56
  and I will tell you,
• 9:57
  uh,
• 9:57
  for instance,
• 9:58
  you know,
• 9:58
  we get a very strong storm that's,
• 10:01
  uh,
• 10:01
  you know,
• 10:01
  well,
• 10:02
  over 100 20 130 miles an hour even,
• 10:04
  you know,
• 10:04
  100 and 60 170 miles an hour.
• 10:07
  It's,
• 10:07
  there's nobody gonna go out on that.
• 10:09
  That's just not,
• 10:10
  that's just not feasible.
• 10:11
  So that's part of the deal when you're gonna shelter in place and you're staying at home,
• 10:16
  there's going to be a period of time where you are on your own for this.
• 10:19
  Yeah.
• 10:20
  And I would say just make sure you have,
• 10:22
  you know,
• 10:22
  exit egress,
• 10:24
  access points in your house.
• 10:25
  So what I mean by that is,
• 10:27
  you know,
• 10:27
  when you shelter your house up,
• 10:28
  just try to make sure that you leave yourself an egress at some point because you know,
• 10:32
  you don't want to be something bad happen and then you can't get out.
• 10:36
  I mean,
• 10:36
  that's,
• 10:36
  that's one of the problems.
• 10:37
  So make sure you have an egress,
• 10:39
  ingress and egress out.
• 10:40
  Um,
• 10:41
  make sure that if,
• 10:43
  uh,
• 10:43
  something bad does happen that you,
• 10:45
  you know,
• 10:45
  you kind of prepare for it.
• 10:47
  Do you,
• 10:47
  do you have tools?
• 10:48
  Do you have,
• 10:49
  um,
• 10:50
  the proper medical equipment?
• 10:51
  Do you have a first aid kit?
• 10:52
  Those kind of things?
• 10:53
  Those are important.
• 10:54
  That's really a good point.
• 10:55
  I mean,
• 10:55
  there's a lot of people who will seal themselves into their homes.
• 10:59
  Uh,
• 10:59
  all the doors and all the windows are buttoned up and there's no easy way out.
• 11:03
  And that's a,
• 11:04
  that's a good point because,
• 11:05
  and we've had,
• 11:05
  and so that,
• 11:06
  that comes from experience,
• 11:07
  right?
• 11:08
  So,
• 11:08
  in,
• 11:08
  in 2004 and 2005,
• 11:10
  we actually had,
• 11:11
  you know,
• 11:11
  we had multiple storms,
• 11:13
  we had tons of storms come through South Florida and during one of those storms,
• 11:16
  we had somebody's house catch on fire,
• 11:19
  but they were stuck in the house because it was completely boarded up and they had no way out of the house,
• 11:24
  even the front door because they couldn't get to the front door because of where the fire was at.
• 11:28
  So we actually went out in the storm because of it because it was such a life safety issue.
• 11:33
  And I want to say we were at 90 mile an hour winds at that point,
• 11:36
  we did get some people hurt,
• 11:37
  um,
• 11:37
  even getting out of the truck doors,
• 11:39
  pulling people out of the trucks and land,
• 11:41
  you know,
• 11:41
  uh getting blown over by wind,
• 11:43
  things like that.
• 11:44
  Um We were able to get the person out of the house,
• 11:46
  but we,
• 11:47
  we really don't want to do that.
• 11:48
  That's not safe for us.
• 11:49
  It's not safe for you.
• 11:51
  So you just wanna make sure that you have those ingress and egress points.
• 11:53
  A really important point that a lot of people don't think about.
• 11:57
  Ok.
• 11:57
  So we've talked about staying in place.
• 12:00
  Let's talk about the checklist again.
• 12:02
  When should I evacuate?
• 12:04
  Obviously,
• 12:04
  flooding is a very important one.
• 12:07
  What about the,
• 12:08
  the folks that are in the house?
• 12:09
  How about older folks,
• 12:10
  people who have medical conditions?
• 12:12
  Um You know,
• 12:14
  what,
• 12:15
  what do we do?
• 12:15
  What,
• 12:15
  what makes this,
• 12:16
  when,
• 12:16
  when,
• 12:17
  when does it make sense to leave?
• 12:18
  Yeah.
• 12:18
  So,
• 12:19
  you know,
• 12:19
  we,
• 12:20
  we'll just,
• 12:21
  let's start with this.
• 12:22
  You should start doing that preparation.
• 12:24
  Now you should start looking for that.
• 12:26
  Now,
• 12:27
  we do have shelters in the county that are for special needs patients.
• 12:30
  We have pet shelters in the county.
• 12:32
  It's good to go ahead right now and get on the Palm Beach County Department of Emergency Management website and go ahead and fill out the paperwork for that now,
• 12:40
  for both the pet shelter and special needs shelters if you need them because then you,
• 12:44
  you're pretty much guaranteed a spot in those.
• 12:46
  If you do that,
• 12:47
  if you don't do that,
• 12:48
  it makes it a little bit more difficult whenever you're trying that,
• 12:50
  that day to get into those shelters,
• 12:52
  it's not that they're gonna turn you away or anything,
• 12:54
  but if they get full to capacity,
• 12:56
  they're not gonna let people keep coming in,
• 12:59
  they're gonna point you to other places and it may be in even another county.
• 13:02
  So you wanna make sure that you are prepared.
• 13:05
  Now,
• 13:05
  I would say in those events,
• 13:07
  especially when it comes to older,
• 13:09
  older people who have medical needs or people who have special needs if you can stay with a friend or family member during the storm.
• 13:17
  If you can that arrangement now to where you're gonna,
• 13:20
  you're gonna go there when the evacuation is called.
• 13:23
  Um,
• 13:23
  then that's a better option,
• 13:25
  you know,
• 13:25
  for you and for your com for your,
• 13:27
  you know,
• 13:28
  you being comfortable.
• 13:29
  So,
• 13:29
  friends and family nearby makes sense to make a run.
• 13:32
  Now,
• 13:33
  uh,
• 13:33
  we have seen the classic pictures of I 95 and the turnpike completely clogged,
• 13:39
  moving on.
• 13:39
  Uh,
• 13:39
  does it ever make real sense for people to say I'm just gonna bug out completely and head out of state?
• 13:45
  You know,
• 13:45
  that's a personal decision.
• 13:46
  But I,
• 13:46
  I would say that,
• 13:47
  you know,
• 13:48
  we've seen it,
• 13:49
  you know,
• 13:50
  plenty of times and,
• 13:52
  and I'll use some of the recent storms,
• 13:53
  you know,
• 13:54
  Irma was one,
• 13:56
  you know,
• 13:56
  Katrina was another one.
• 13:57
  We've had storms that have,
• 13:59
  you know,
• 14:00
  may look like they're gonna make a beeline for us and they're three or four days out and then they,
• 14:04
  you know,
• 14:04
  whenever you're looking at that cone,
• 14:06
  you know,
• 14:06
  the cone that's a three and five day cone and they're getting better at forecasting.
• 14:10
  But that,
• 14:11
  that forecast could be anywhere in that cone and that's where the eye is going.
• 14:15
  So that cone might be 3 to 400 miles wide and that storm may shift 300 miles south like Katrina and Irma did.
• 14:24
  And then Katrina,
• 14:25
  I mean,
• 14:26
  Katrina went,
• 14:26
  you know,
• 14:26
  down through the Keys and then up and went to New Orleans as we know.
• 14:31
  But Irma went all and did a complete wrap around the state and came across the west coast.
• 14:35
  So we had a lot of people that left the east coast because here comes Irma and they went to the west coast and then they literally either had to turn around and try to come back or they had to hunker down on the west coast.
• 14:46
  Um,
• 14:46
  we had,
• 14:46
  uh,
• 14:46
  multiple storms where people have left and went to,
• 14:50
  uh,
• 14:50
  Northern Florida or Georgia.
• 14:51
  And then what happens is the storm just follows them and then they,
• 14:54
  you know,
• 14:54
  they get almost as bad as they would have got here.
• 14:57
  So it's,
• 14:58
  you know,
• 14:58
  it's a personal preference if it's something that you feel like you wanna do by all means.
• 15:03
  But you know,
• 15:04
  you gotta remember that the gas stations are gonna be packed,
• 15:07
  the roads are going to be packed and it's going to be very difficult once you get to a certain point.
• 15:12
  Um,
• 15:12
  if you can't get out and if you,
• 15:14
  the longer you wait,
• 15:15
  the worse it's going to be.
• 15:16
  And that's again,
• 15:17
  the point is that if you're going to do something like that,
• 15:19
  you're going to try to just bug out and head out of the state or head out of the area,
• 15:24
  you got to do it very,
• 15:25
  very early.
• 15:27
  People are going to be looking at you funny as you're driving out of your neighborhood,
• 15:30
  but you are getting as far as head of the storm as possible.
• 15:34
  That's really key,
• 15:35
  right?
• 15:35
  And I would,
• 15:36
  I would,
• 15:37
  I would say like if you knew you were going to be attacked by aliens in a week,
• 15:41
  a week from now,
• 15:42
  would you stay or would you leave?
• 15:44
  And that's your personal preference?
• 15:45
  So if you're going to do that.
• 15:46
  You,
• 15:47
  you might want to leave a week early and not wait till the day of.
• 15:50
  Right.
• 15:50
  Right now,
• 15:51
  let's jump back to talking about shelters because people are going.
• 15:54
  Oh,
• 15:54
  ok.
• 15:54
  Well,
• 15:54
  I don't want to be driving around 995.
• 15:56
  I've seen those,
• 15:56
  seen those films.
• 15:57
  I've seen those pictures,
• 15:59
  uh,
• 15:59
  if you are staying at a shelter,
• 16:01
  um,
• 16:02
  you know,
• 16:02
  you're just going to,
• 16:03
  what do you bring?
• 16:04
  Do you,
• 16:05
  do you show up with nothing?
• 16:06
  Do you bring you camp out?
• 16:07
  What do you do?
• 16:08
  Yeah,
• 16:08
  so you know,
• 16:08
  you're going to be provided a cot in a little area.
• 16:11
  Um each area is,
• 16:12
  is very small,
• 16:14
  you're not gonna,
• 16:14
  it's not a luxury apartment.
• 16:15
  You're definitely not gonna go stay in a hotel,
• 16:18
  but it's a good option if you have nowhere else to go.
• 16:21
  And the part of that is you probably should,
• 16:23
  you need to bring your prescriptions 100% for sure.
• 16:26
  You should try to bring some ration food and water.
• 16:28
  They will probably have some there.
• 16:30
  However,
• 16:30
  I wouldn't count on it 100% because there's a lot of people and sometimes we can't get all the rations that we need to those facilities just yet.
• 16:38
  Sometimes it it's after the storm where they start to come in.
• 16:41
  Um There are bathrooms there,
• 16:43
  however,
• 16:44
  it's a shared bathroom,
• 16:45
  it might be a couple of 100 people.
• 16:47
  So you know,
• 16:48
  bring you might want to bring your own,
• 16:50
  um,
• 16:50
  you know,
• 16:50
  soap and maybe some sandals if you're gonna shower there,
• 16:53
  um,
• 16:54
  you know,
• 16:55
  definitely bring,
• 16:56
  you know,
• 16:56
  your own toothbrush and that kind of stuff probably in your own,
• 16:59
  uh sleeping like,
• 17:00
  like so a sheet,
• 17:02
  you know,
• 17:02
  a pillow,
• 17:03
  that kind of thing.
• 17:03
  But don't expect that you're going to get any kind of luxury,
• 17:07
  you know,
• 17:07
  treatment there.
• 17:08
  It's pretty much if you really don't have anywhere to go.
• 17:11
  Shelter is the last resort.
• 17:12
  Right.
• 17:12
  So,
• 17:12
  if you do take advantage of a shelter,
• 17:14
  first of all,
• 17:15
  you're going to have to,
• 17:16
  you know,
• 17:16
  where you're going early if you have special needs or you have to get in contact with a shelter that can handle pets of a certain type.
• 17:24
  All that type has to be that,
• 17:25
  that has to be done well ahead of time and reservations have to be made ahead of time once you're there,
• 17:30
  you sort of have to get into the mindset by what you describe.
• 17:32
  You're almost like camping indoors.
• 17:34
  Yeah,
• 17:34
  I mean,
• 17:35
  really,
• 17:35
  you,
• 17:35
  you get,
• 17:36
  um,
• 17:36
  basically like,
• 17:37
  um,
• 17:38
  you know,
• 17:39
  uh,
• 17:39
  uh,
• 17:39
  a very small area enough to fit a cot and maybe a foot or two on each side and there's cots,
• 17:45
  you know,
• 17:45
  there's hundreds of cots and you're staying with hundreds of people usually in like a gymnasium or a big open area.
• 17:52
  There is,
• 17:52
  there's not a lot of privacy,
• 17:54
  um,
• 17:55
  you know,
• 17:55
  but just be prepared for that.
• 17:56
  Because we do have people show up and they get upset because they're having to stay in a,
• 18:01
  a huge room with other people.
• 18:03
  And,
• 18:03
  you know,
• 18:03
  they're,
• 18:04
  you get a lot of good sleep or they're having to share the bathrooms and you know,
• 18:08
  you just got to be prepared for that before you go.
• 18:10
  So the whole point of this conversation is,
• 18:13
  is that there are many options and decisions to be made,
• 18:17
  but it's important to make them early well ahead of the storm.
• 18:21
  Yeah,
• 18:21
  I would say today may 1st should be your your eyes open getting ready for hurricane season.
• 18:28
  Um You know,
• 18:28
  we we in the city and me at my house this weekend,
• 18:33
  I will be firing up my generator.
• 18:36
  I will be making sure that the water is ordered.
• 18:38
  I will be making sure that we have enough peanut butter and jelly and stuff and it's not for me because I'll be at work,
• 18:45
  but it's for my family so that I know that they're taken care of.
• 18:48
  So when I do go to work,
• 18:49
  I know that I can feel comfortable leaving them there.
• 18:52
  So let's go over again.
• 18:53
  Now,
• 18:53
  where can people find that information about flood zones and just hurricane preparedness?
• 18:58
  Yeah.
• 18:58
  So we have,
• 18:59
  of course,
• 18:59
  uh W pb.org,
• 19:01
  which is the city's website,
• 19:02
  front slash hurricane.
• 19:04
  You can find the all this information there.
• 19:07
  Um If you go to Palm Beach County Department of Emergency Management,
• 19:10
  they have the information there and then FEMA has a lot of really good resources.
• 19:14
  If you look up fa hurricane or F MA flood zones,
• 19:17
  you'll get all these,
• 19:18
  the information that we're speaking of as we're heading into hurricane season.
• 19:22
  2024.
• 19:23
  What are the main points you would like to share with folks listening to this podcast today?
• 19:28
  Well,
• 19:28
  I think the biggest thing is being prepared.
• 19:30
  You know,
• 19:31
  we,
• 19:31
  and,
• 19:31
  you know,
• 19:32
  we have uh some standards and when we look for like fema,
• 19:36
  we look at our preparedness here in the city.
• 19:39
  You know,
• 19:39
  you wanna make sure that you're prepared,
• 19:40
  you want to say that you make sure that you're protected,
• 19:43
  you wanna make sure that whenever um you have any issues,
• 19:46
  you mitigate them early and that you wanna make sure that when,
• 19:48
  after,
• 19:49
  um,
• 19:49
  it's all said and done that you're able to recover easily.
• 19:52
  And if you have all the proper preparation in place early,
• 19:56
  you have your hurricane kit,
• 19:58
  you have your evacuation that you know,
• 20:01
  that you're going to be getting out of the house.
• 20:02
  The other thing is I would say if you have a house where you have multiple people living in the house and if you have kids,
• 20:08
  you know,
• 20:08
  you may want to have a meet point where whenever you,
• 20:12
  if you do have to evacuate the house,
• 20:14
  you have somewhere you can go meet um whether it's,
• 20:18
  hey,
• 20:18
  we're going to meet at the fire hydrant.
• 20:19
  That's two houses over or whether we're gonna meet,
• 20:22
  hey,
• 20:23
  we're gonna go and jump in the car because that's maybe the only safe place we got left or whatever it is.
• 20:28
  Make sure you have your preparation done now.
• 20:31
  Gotcha,
• 20:32
  Brent.
• 20:32
  Thank you very much for your,
• 20:34
  for your uh information today.
• 20:36
  You helped us get ready,
• 20:37
  get ready for a hurricane season.
• 20:39
  Let's cross our fingers that we get another break this year,
• 20:42
  but we should be prepared for an active season.
• 20:45
  Yes,
• 20:45
  it's gonna be a very,
• 20:46
  it's gonna be a very active season.
• 20:48
  Colorado State University who puts out,
• 20:51
  you know,
• 20:51
  they are kind of the kings when it comes to uh you know,
• 20:54
  when it comes to these uh productions,
• 20:56
  especially for hurricane season and it's the most uh hurricanes that they've ever predicted.
• 21:04
  So it's gonna be a very busy season,
• 21:06
  I believe.
• 21:07
  Let's hope for the best.
• 21:08
  Prepare for the worst.
• 21:09
  Yeah.
• 21:09
  There you go.
• 21:10
  There you go,
• 21:10
  Brent.
• 21:10
  Thank you very much for your time today and thank you for listening to this podcast direct from City Hall in West Palm Beach,
• 21:16
  Florida.
• 21:17
  We hope you've enjoyed our conversation today and if you did,
• 21:20
  please subscribe and let your friends know we're here.
• 21:24
  We also want to hear from you.
• 21:26
  Tell us what topics you wanna know more about.
• 21:28
  Just drop us a note at podcast at W pb.org.
• 21:34
  The City Center podcast is a production of the City of West Palm Beach Communications Department.
• 21:39
  I'm Jerry Marcelo.
• 21:40
  We'll see you next time.