A.G. Gancarski
Hurricane Irma’s catastrophic path almost guarantees some impacts in Northeast Florida, and Jacksonville is readying for the worst.
Wednesday morning saw Mayor Lenny Curry lead a tour of a city warehouse in an undisclosed location that has supplies that may prove necessary for the recovery period that seems all but unavoidable.
The Mayor’s message: The city “is preparing and has prepared.”
The warehouse — a former lazy asset repurposed with a federal grant — holds necessities ranging from Generac generators to 120,000 bottles of water.
The message: “be ready, be prepared … we as a government are preparing on all fronts.”
That preparation included identifying 12 shelters, even as other decisions were forestalled.
Among the decisions being mulled early Wednesday afternoon: whether to mandate evacuations, and whether to give city workers Friday off.
Those decisions — and then some — were made, with others clearly in process as Jacksonville is under the “five day cone of uncertainty,” per Curry.
The big takeaway: Jacksonville is now under a state of emergency. The beaches communities are under a similar state of emergency.
The state of emergency affords access to resources and funds should they be needed. St. Johns County is under one already.
Schools will be closed Friday, as will city government.
And evacuations — especially from the beaches and zones A and B — are already being strongly encouraged, with Sheriff Mike Williams noting that those who wait until Friday “could be on the interstate going 10 miles an hour.”
Those with long memories in Duval may remember the cataclysmic evacuation for Hurricane Floyd, one which saw cars lined up and stalled out on the interstates headed out of town.
“We could have major traffic issues in the event of a mandatory evacuation,” Curry said. “If the storm continues on this track or it worsens, we could see mandatory evacuations on Friday.”
Those evacuations could create “major, major road clogs,” Curry added.
While local evacuations wouldn’t involve a “policeman dragging somebody out of their home,” Sheriff Williams said, mandatory evacuations are the strongest possible dictate from governments.
At the beaches, there may not be police or fire resources available during the storm.
Curry will brief the Jacksonville City Council on Thursday.
