City of Oldsmar, Florida Disaster Prep, 31 Dec 2015

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From YouTube: Prepare to Survive - El Niño | Human Services Response

Description

During a flood or other weather emergency, some residents may have to seek shelter until their home is safe again. In this special edition of Prepare to Survive, find out when Pinellas County will open shelters and what other services are available for residents in a weather emergency. This video interview includes Tim Burns, division director of planning and contract services for Pinellas County Human Services, and Inaki Rezola, Pinellas County Emergency Management coordinator.

Check out all six segments of Prepare to Survive – Special Edition El Niño here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2oRjtRi088Dl-HLroX7jEoovAg1mlvnf

For more information on El Niño, visit http://www.pinellascounty.org/emergency/El-Nino.htm

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Libby: welcome back., I'm libby bolling with pinellas county communications.. We've been talking about the threat of bad weather,, but what.

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Do you do if something like a tornado or flood does happen?.

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Pinellas county is prepared to help citizens in multiple ways.

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Joining me to talk about these services is tim burns, division.

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Director with pinellas county human services., thanks for joining us,, tim. tim:, thanks for having me., libby: and inaki rezola, emergency management coordinator.

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With pinellas county emergency management., thank you for joining us, inaki. inaki:. It's my pleasure.

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Thanks for having me.

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Libby: now,, we want people --, something has happened right.

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Now,, but really what we want to tell people is prepare ahead.

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Inaki: absolutely.

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The most important thing that anyone can do is to be prepared,.

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To have a plan, to have a kit of supplies, to know what to do.

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Should something bad happen,, whether it's a single-family house, fire,, el nino, or a large event.

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Libby: and emergency management,, you have a marvelous.

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Website that details, preparation for every type of emergency.

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Inaki: absolutely.

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Everything to do with what happens with fifi and fido,, to don't forget your medicines or if you have special needs,.

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To the listing of shelters, for, again,, the larger events.

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but, obviously,, this is a different kind of potential.

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Disaster, right?.

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Libby: right. exactly. we've got flooding., we could have possibly, you know, heavier weather. That may include tornadoes., inaki: correct. libby:. How do people prepare for those types of emergencies?, inaki: well,, I'm sure it's been talked about,.

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The importance of having a weather, radio or having apps on.

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Your phone that will alert you because this kind of event could.

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Be no notice., you could have a lot of rain that occurs.

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you could have a tornado or a wind event,, and you really didn't get the type of day's notice, like in a hurricane.

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So it's just important to, first, be aware., know what the weather is going to be that day.

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and then have those tools that alert you in case. There's.

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Immediate danger.

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Libby:, so if something has happened, -- inaki:, yes., libby:, okay. and people have to leave their homes, and in case they have to.

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Go to a shelter,. What should they expect?

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inaki: well,, certainly the shelter that they are going to.

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Go to is probably going to be located in a church hall, a.

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Civic association's meeting room.

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It could be a school., it could be, you know, a gymnasium in a school or.

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Some other community center., but it's going to be a smaller kind of facility,, but they are.

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Going to expect a place, that's going to be warm, hopefully,.

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And safe and not wet.

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But there's going to be very few creature, comforts.

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They may have a cot., they may have blankets. but, again,. We want to make sure they are safe for that night..

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So our first goal is: keep them safe.

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bring them somewhere, where they'll be okay for that night and try to meet their basic needs.

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Libby:, so emergency management does a lot of planning, tim.

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I know that you're involved with planning for human services as a.

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Follow-Up to emergency management's, planning.

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How does that dovetail in? tim: we coordinate very closely with emergency.

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Management. human services provides a lot of day-to-day services in the.

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Community. we're known for the mobile medical unit and a wide range of other things., but what folks don't necessarily realize is we're also considered.

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The mass care lead., so that means --, it doesn't mean we deliver all the services after an emergency.. It means that we coordinate with folks that can bring the resources to the table.. So we coordinate very closely..

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We work very hard on the shelter operations on. How would we.

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Transport individuals that are homeless to make sure that they are safe during a large event..

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We also coordinate a lot on some of the very isolated local events which are a concern., and when we start talking about el ni�o,, we start looking at.

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Events that could be localized flooding., they could be tornadoes.. They could be a wide range of different events that impact individuals in a very isolated way..

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So we need to be prepared to respond to that and be able to help folks connect to the right types of services to be able to.

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Get stabilized again.

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Libby: after an event,, you also are a part of --.

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Human services coordinates with justice, coordination and.

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Protects consumers., can you talk about that?.

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Tim: yes., along with human services and the different services we provide,, justice coordination, coordinates with the courts to.

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Try to make sure that the court operations are back up and running after a large event.. It's very important that the court operations continue and.

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That due process is provided.

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with consumer protection,. It's very important that.

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Individuals in the community realize that after a storm,, not everybody has their best interest in mind..

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There are individuals that try to capitalize through price.

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Gouging, through trying to offer services that they don't complete, and they really try to scam individuals..

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So consumer protection actually works very closely with the state attorney's office and develops a strike force after a large event. and they go out into the community, and they try to make sure that there aren't individuals that are poaching on citizens.

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libby:. And you also mentioned that you both work together on.

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The community response plan, is that correct?

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tim:, that's correct. libby:, and what does that entail?.

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Inaki:, it's a team effort,, you know., and human services and emergency management works with our community partners forging those collaborations out there because.

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Not one single agency or entity can do it all., but you have folks, like 211, the american red cross,, the area agency on aging, that all bring different level.

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Of subject matter, expertise to help us in our communities.

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So it's really that synergy that's created, working together.

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To address whether it's a feeding issue, a sheltering.

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Issue, or someone lost their medicines because the house fell.

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Down or burnt down and now they need their medicines.

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Libby:- and it is all about partnerships,- isn't it?.

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Tim:, it is about partnerships. and we're really trying to build additional partnerships in our community.. We're working very hard on that project..

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When you start looking at some of the different events, helping somebody relocate after their house has been flooded is very important.. They need to get that level of stabilization.

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or after a house fire., and then you also have situations where you could have a location condemned for safety..

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So having partners like the pinellas county housing authority to be able to help relocate individuals after a.

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Housing complex is condemned. we're working with the area agency on aging or dcf. If there is a problem with an alf,, assisted living, facility, and.

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Folks might be in jeopardy.

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there's a lot of different types of events, and it's important to have partners that can help us respond.

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Libby: so any last words of advice for people planning to.

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Prepare themselves and their families for an extreme.

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Weather event?.

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Inaki:, that's the key thing right, there. that,! First of all,, it really comes down to preparation and being aware of the threat that could potentially happen.

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It just doesn't mean that something bad is going to happen.

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This year., it just means there's an increased possibility that we could have some severe weather.. So having that preparation on an individual level, on a family level, and even on a community level --, I mean,. We need churches and civic halls and other organizations to call.

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Us and say, hey, we'd love to volunteer our facility to be used as a shelter as well, or we have a group of volunteers that.

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Can help out. it's really coming together., so preparedness is a key thing in order to build resilience.

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Libby: anything else?.

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Tim:, I think that it's very important to know how to access resources.. You have community partners like 211 that has access to a great deal of information. red cross brings a lot to situations, and they really help.

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To triage, and they work very closely with folks., so I think it's just important to be able to know how to locate.

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Your resources and be aware., so I think, visiting the county's website and being aware of other.

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Resources in the community before an event happens is important.

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Libby: well, thank you, gentlemen, for joining me.

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Inaki: thank you. tim:. Thank you very much..

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Libby:, if you would like more information about pinellas county human services,, visit their website, at:.

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And if you'd like more information about preparing for an emergency, visit, emergency management's website, at:.