President Trump declares major disaster in Florida as state responds to Hurricane Michael

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -  Today, following Governor Rick Scott’s request, President Donald Trump issued a Major Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Michael. See the declaration HERE. Governor Scott is in constant communication with federal, state and local emergency management officials and state agency leaders to ensure the state is prepared to respond to Hurricane Michael. On October 7th, Governor Scott declared a state of emergency in 26 Florida counties, and expanded it to include 35 counties total on October 8th. To see his Emergency Order, click HERE. On October 9th,following Governor Scott’s request, President Donald Trump approved a pre-landfall emergency declaration.

STATE PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS

EVACUATIONS

• The State Emergency Response Team estimates that more than 375,000 Floridians were ordered to evacuate.

SHELTERS

• Currently 38 shelters are open.
• Visit Floridadisaster.org/shelter-status to find information on shelters in your area. This site is being updated as shelters open throughout the day.

UTILITIES

• More than 19,000 power restoration personnel have been pre-positioned and are ready to respond.
• Prior to Hurricane Michael’s impact, Governor Scott has called on every local government to immediately confirm their mutual aid agreements between investor-owned utilities, municipals and co-ops are in place and effective so there is no delay in power restoration for Floridians. These agreements allow municipal utilities to receive aid from investor-owned utilities and co-ops as they work to restore power to customers. Without these agreements in place ahead of time, power restoration will be delayed. To view the full list of Florida utilities with agreements in place, click HERE.
• The current power outage as of 9:00 a.m. is 400,666.

MILITARY SUPPORT

• At Governor Scott’s direction, the Florida National Guard has activated 3,500 soldiers and airmen for pre-landfall coordination and planning, with an emphasis on high water and search and rescue operations.
• Through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), the Florida National Guard has coordinated for 15 aviation assets from nine other states, including six CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the New York, Mississippi, Maryland and Ohio National Guards to augment our aviation capabilities, as well as nine UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were also coordinated through the New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, Louisiana, Kansas National Guards.
• The Florida National Guard is performing a variety of missions, including staffing 12 shelters, preparing 30 Points of Distribution (PODs), running two Logistics Staging Areas (LSAs) in Tallahassee and Eglin and staffing the State Logistics Readiness Center (SLRC) in Orlando.
• The Florida National Guard has more than 1,000 high water vehicles, 13 helicopters and 16 boats and is preparing for possible missions to include humanitarian assistance, security operations, and search and rescue.
• The Florida National Guard will continue to work closely with civilian partner agencies, other National Guard states and active duty counterparts.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

• More than 1,000 State Law Enforcement Officers have been deployed to impacted areas in the Panhandle and Big Bend.
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has assembled teams with 150 officers from outside the impacted area that are deploying to Bay, Gulf and Jackson counties. They are responding with a variety of specialized equipment, including shallow draft boats, ATVs, airboats and four wheel drive vehicles. An additional team of 60 officers is being built currently to respond.
• FWC staff and partners are setting up a command post in Marianna at the Jackson County Emergency Operations Center.
• One FWC helicopter is up out of Milton, surveying Bay and Gulf counties.

• The first wave of approximately 60 FWC officers and five support staff is currently staging at Ocala Fire College for early Thursday morning deployment to storm affected areas.
• An additional force of approximately 18 FWC officers is staged in Pensacola ready to deploy to Bay County to assist with recovery and reconnaissance missions.
• A second wave of approximately 60 FWC officers and five support staff are on their way to the Florida Public Safety Institute to be ready to deploy.
• A 15-member FWC Special Operations Group has joined National Guard and Florida Fire Service USAR teams to create highly specialized urban search and rescue units to address immediate post-storm rescue needs in storm affected areas. These teams will deploy to Bay County.
• FWC Special Operations Group (SOG) teams will be deploying to perform reconnaissance efforts to provide Emergency Operations Centers with up to date post-storm information and assessments. 
• The Florida Highway Patrol has activated Alpha / Bravo for field troops throughout the state. This activation will result in regular days off being cancelled and 24-Hour enhanced coverage.
• The Florida Highway Patrol has 600 state troopers assigned to the Panhandle and Big Bend area of Florida to assist with response and recovery.
• The Florida Highway Patrol currently has 24/7 representation within the State Emergency Operations Center coordinating preparation, response and recovery efforts. The Florida Highway Patrol is also staffing numerous County Emergency Operations Centers.
• The Florida Highway Patrol has activated Alpha / Bravo for field troops throughout the state. This activation has resulted in regular days off being cancelled and 24-Hour enhanced coverage.
• The Florida Highway Patrol will maintain high visibility on Interstate-10 and other roadways to assist motorists, clear roadways and will routinely check rest areas to assist residents and visitors.
• The Florida Highway Patrol has deployed two MRAPs (high clearance recovery vehicles) to clear trees and debris from Interstate-10 and other main corridors.
• The Florida Highway Patrol has deployed an aircraft with live streaming capabilities to assess response and recovery needs.
• The Florida Highway Patrol has deployed two small unmanned aerial vehicles with livestreaming capabilities to assess road and bridge response and recovery needs.
• The Florida Highway Patrol is providing security escorts to utility crews responding to the recovery area.

• DHSMV’s Florida Licensing on Wheels (FLOW) mobiles are on standby to assist customers impacted by the storm.
• FDLE’s Mutual Aid Team is coordinating missions to assist local agencies with escort, evacuation, traffic control and security details.
• FDLE and other statewide law enforcement partners are working 24-hours at SEOC and in the Pensacola and Tallahassee regions. 
• 10 FDLE deployment teams are assisting law enforcement following Hurricane Michael. 
• Regional FDLE law enforcement coordination teams (RLECTS) are coordinating with urban search and rescue teams to get into impacted areas.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

• There are more than 1,000 search and rescue personnel deploying to the impacted areas. They are bringing:

• 11 Urban Search and Rescue teams with more than 400 personnel.
• 5 fire engine strike teams with 50 fire engines and 110 firefighters.
• Two Reconnaissance teams.
• A Florida Fire Forest Service Incident Management Gold Team.
• 7 swift water rescue teams.

• The State of Florida has activated five urban search and rescue task forces and resources to various strategic locations to prepare for response. An additional four task forces from the states of Mississippi and Louisiana will supplement in state teams with operations in the affected areas.  
• CFO Jimmy Patronis has activated or placed on alert seven out of eight state Search and Rescue task forces in preparation for Hurricane Michael’s landfall.

TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC WORKS

• FDOT is currently deploying crews and equipment from around the state to assess damage to, and safety of critical infrastructure, and to clear access to affected areas as soon as possible.
• Governor Scott directed the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to suspend tolls effective immediately in the Northwest Florida region. Tolls will be suspended at the following facilities: Mid-Bay Bridge and Spence Parkway (Okaloosa County), Garcon Point Bridge (Santa Rosa County), Bob Sikes Toll Bridge (Escambia County), and Orchard Pond Parkway (Leon County).
• FDOT has suspended all construction operations from the roadways in the counties under the state of emergency.
• FDOT is coordinating with the Florida Highway Patrol reopening bridges and roadways when clear and safe to travel.
• FDOT is monitoring roadways and identifying bridge inspectors statewide.
• FDOT has placed standby generators for traffic signal support.
• FDOT issued an Emergency Road Use Permit letter to relieve size and weight restrictions for vehicles responding to Hurricane Michael.
• FDOT issued Weigh Station Bypass letter to allow emergency response vehicles such as utility vehicles and bucket trucks to bypass all FDOT weigh stations.
• Port of Pensacola and Port of Panama City have closed.
• FDOT is coordinating with utility companies to coordinate post storm clean-up activities.
• Roads and bridges in impacted areas have closed. Please visit fl511.com for the latest information.

FOOD AND WATER

• The state is working to ensure adequate food resources are available for Florida residents impacted by Hurricane Michael, prioritizing based upon need. Specific activities include the following:
• Approximately 2 million meals ready to eat are prepared to be distributed
• Approximately 1 million gallons of water is prepared to be distributed.
• Approximately 40,000 10-pound bags of ice is prepared to be distributed or has been distributed.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL

• The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) is continuing to monitor the storm and regularly sharing information with waiver support coordinators and providers to ensure the health and safety of the customers the agency serves.
• APD is also checking on individuals with developmental disabilities who live in their own homes to ensure they are prepared for the hurricane.
• APD has canceled all guest reservations for the week for William J. Rish Recreational Park in Gulf County. The facility will be closed beginning Tuesday.
• APD is making Hawkins Park in Santa Rosa County available to utility trucks as a staging area.

• The Florida Department of Health (DOH) is actively communicating with ESF-8 leadership in the counties within the area of operations.
• DOH is in contact with hospitals and other health care facilities within the area of operations to determine operational status.
• DOH is monitoring and supporting Special Needs Shelter operations through census reporting and resource support as requested by local emergency operations.
• Critical patients within the impact zone have been air lifted from damaged health care facilities to receiving hospitals.

• DOH has 20 Ambulance Strike Teams and has activated the FEMA ambulance contract for a total of 400 Advanced Life Support (ASL) ambulances to assist with rescue operations, health care facility evacuations, and local EMS augmentation. DOH also has:
  • 50 nurses augmenting local special needs shelter staff;
  • Three federal Disaster Medical Assistant Teams (DMAT) with a total of105 staff;
  • Activated a hospital augmentation team from the International Medical Corp including 50 nurses, two hospital emergency department teams and one emergency hospital.
• Ambulance strike teams are actively evacuating patients from damaged health care facilities to receiving hospitals. This will continue until all patients have been evacuated to safety.
• To prepare for, respond to, and mitigate any effect of Hurricane Michael, DOH issued an emergency order allowing health care professionals with a valid, unrestricted and unencumbered license in any state, territory, and/or district to render services in Florida during a period not to exceed thirty days (unless extended).
• Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced steps taken to support Florida in response to Hurricane Michael, including:
  • Temporarily waiving or modifying certain Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP requirements,
  • Making special enrollment periods available for certain individuals seeking health plans offered through the Florida Health Insurance Exchange,
  • Helping patients obtain access to life-saving services such as dialysis.

• The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is in contact with healthcare facilities to ensure they have the resources they need.  
• AHCA will hold a joint call with the Florida Health Care Association and all residential and inpatient healthcare facilities including all areas of the panhandle and east to Jacksonville. AHCA and the Florida Hospital Association will hold a joint call with all hospitals in the panhandle.
• AHCA has activated the Emergency Status System (ESS) for health care facilities in the panhandle to enter their storm preparedness status including generators and utility company information, emergency contacts, and bed availability.
• All nursing homes and assisted living facilities are required to keep residents in a safe environment in an emergency to ensure the protection of resident health, safety, welfare, and comfort. 

• Facilities are required to have a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan approved and on file with the local emergency management agencies.
• Nursing facilities all have back-up power that can power medical equipment and refrigeration for medicine and food. 
• Additionally, facilities are required to have an emergency power plan in place to ensure that resident occupied area temperatures do not exceed 81 degrees. These plans include onsite generators, delivered generators, or shifting populations to locations that can maintain comfortable temperatures.
• As part of licensure, facilities are responsible for the health and safety of their patients.
• The State is here to serve as a resource to connect facilities to the local emergency management officials to make sure needs are being met.

• AHCA staff has reached out to all hospital CEOs and all residential health care facilities in the panhandle.

• The Department of Elder Affairs continues communication with directors and emergency coordinators at the affected Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs).
• AAAs and Lead Agency staff assisted with getting frail and vulnerable seniors to special needs shelters and also coordinated with other clients to ensure that they were prepared in advance of the storm or had evacuated as appropriate.
• Home-delivered meal recipients in affected areas were provided extra shelf-stable meals.
• DOEA assists DOH with staffing and other efforts at Special Needs Shelters. The Director and Deputy Director of DOEA’s CARES Bureau are at Special Needs Shelters to assist with assessment of clients and the appropriate discharge plans following the storm.
• DOEA and our partners throughout the Aging Network stand ready to identify and assist with unmet needs of seniors in the storm’s path.
• The Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs (FDVA) operates six skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living facility.
• Restoration efforts are underway at the Clifford C. Sims State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Panama City. Support teams from other State Veterans’ Homes are assisting in support and recovery
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports VA Outpatient Clinics in Pensacola, Panama City Beach,  Eglin AFB, Marianna, Tallahassee and Perry are closed today. Patient appointments have been rescheduled.
• The following national VA hotlines are available to assist Veterans:
  • Veteran Disaster Hotline: 1-800-507-4571 (24/7 operations)
  • Pharmacy Customer Care: 1-855-574-7288 (8:00 am – 4:30 pm EST)
  • Veterans Benefits Administration Hotline: 1-800-827-1000

Tags: Government/Politics & Law, Hurricane Season 2018