As Florida struggles to engage the coronavirus pandemic that has killed at least 7,000 people, state officials are now struggling to deal with the mourning crisis that is gaining momentum: Hurricane Isaiah.
“It’s just another thing to get to torture,” Palm Beach County teacher, The Washington Post Inez Cruz, told The Washington Post Inez Cruz. “It’s some other fear, but still the one we already had.”
As Isaiah weakened a tropical typhoon Saturday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said the grass crisis is expected to regain the strength of the hurricane as it approaches Florida. It is estimated that it will hit southeast Florida late on Saturday or early Sunday morning as a Category 1 typhoon after drawing power from the warmer waters of Gult Creek.
After hitting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, half of the now Category 1 hit the Bahamas on Saturday afternoon. Maximum sustained winds above 8o mph, breaking trees and cutting power.
Estimates, however, show that forward movement has slowed to 12 mph as it continues to move northwest. President Donald Trump saturday passed an emergency statement for affected Florida counties to allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance if necessary.
But dual emergencies that fall on Florida complicate others. State-run coronavirus test sites have been closed in spaces that are likely to be affected by the hurricane, and while the general protocol would require mass evacuations and network shelters, hurricane evacuation centers are ready for coronavirus outbreaks.
On Friday, Florida set a single-day death record for the fourth day in a row. The Florida Department of Health reported 179 deaths saturday night, bringing the death toll in the state to 7,022. There were 9,642 new infections, for a total of 480,028 statewide. Saturday’s death toll was lower than Friday’s, which recorded a record 257.
The state has, however, reported less than 10,000 positive cases for the last seven days, following several record-high days in early July. Florida now has the second-highest number of cases in the country, behind California, with a positive test rate of about 12 percent.
But the state is now diverting its attention from the pandemic and is turning to the approaching herbal disaster. On Friday, Palm Beach County ordered the closure of all of the city’s recreational amenities, added beaches, and opened six emergency evacuation shelters for citizens living in cell homes or social housing.
“It’s unprecedented,” Palm Beach County Commissioner Dave Kerner said Friday. “This is the first time one of us at the [Emergency Operations Center] knows that we have had two separate permanent states of emergency for two separate issues. But we’re targeting both of them. We will strive to take everything that is thrown at us.”
He said shelters will have a strict masking mandate and social estrangement regulations, and that citizens will be assessed before entering.
“I hope this typhoon doesn’t provide a bump in the way in terms of the community’s response,” he said, adding that the law would be provided in shelters to the rules. “We are beginning to see the effects of dressing in a physically powerful mask and social estrangement, so I will remind my constituents to remain attentive and aware that this is becoming a pandemic, and we do not need to withdraw from the progress they have made.”
In Miami, Mayor Carlos Giménez also closed beaches and marinas and put in store nearly two dozen evacuation centers, but said they would be configured to prevent coVID-19 from spreading. Trump reportedly also canceled a Saturday-scheduled crusade in Miami-Dade at his Doral golf resort.
“We still don’t think it’s mandatory to open shelters for this storm, but they’re ready,” Giménez told The Associated Press on Friday, adding that shelters would give each individual about 40 square feet of space.
Shelters will also be used as food in the cafeteria to respect social distance. Infected evacuees will be remote in separate rooms from the general population.
On Friday, DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the state’s East Coast counties, urging citizens to remain vigilant and prepare emergency kits containing supplies for a week. Hurricane surveillance was also established from Hallandale Beach to Boca Raton, as well as typhoon surveillance from Jupiter to Ponte Vedra Beach.
Emphasizing that the state is “fully prepared,” the Republican governor added that some state-run coronavirus test sites would be closed. “Our sites, because they’re outdoors with tents, if there were 40, 50 mile winds consistent with the time, would simply collapse,” he said Friday, adding that the state is in a position to open shelters and has created an EPI reserve for hurricane season. “Safety is paramount to this.”
DeSantis Florida had accumulated a reserve of 22 million gloves, 20 million masks, 10 million robes, 1.6 million face protectors, 270,000 adjustments and 20,000 thermometers for the affected areas.
“I need Floridians to know that the state of Florida is fully prepared for this typhoon and any long-running typhoon this hurricane season,” DeSantis said.