MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – A Miami-Dade County Commissioners' meeting opened Thursday with a video that Mayor Carlos Gimenez used to show all that went right whent Hurricane Irma's tropical-storm-strength winds impacted Sept. 10.
Commissioners responded with a list and some said County government needed to do better the next time a hurricane threatened South Florida.
"In one shelter, there were many elderly and they did not have cots," Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime said.
The focus of the discussion was on faltering logistics. After ordering the evacuations, the County needs to be ready to provide safe shelter. With the possibility of a Category 5 storm, authorities staged the largest evacuation in history.
About 600,000 residents of coastal areas were ordered to seek shelter elsewhere during the storm. Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa said there were evacuees going to shelters that weren't open, and they were doing that about 48 hours before the storm.
"The problem was someone released the list of shelters before they were ready to open and that's what caused people outside in line," Gimenez said."One of the lessons learned is that we have to be self-sufficient. We can't rely on outside agencies."
Gimenez gave high marks to the School District employees who were in the front lines of managing the 40 shelters available. Miami-Dade Commissioner Daniella Levine-Cava said there were many stressors to the system that need to be looked at.
There is a new committee on storm response and preparedness. Rep. Jeannette Nuñez, R-Miami, is the chair.
"There will be a lot of issues related to sheltering, debris, fuel," Nuñez said. "These are the ones that keep bubbling up."
