Eye on the Tropics

After Matthew: Response and recovery updates

Gov. Rick Scott's office released the following information on power outages, school closures and recovery efforts at 4 p.m. Sunday.

POWER

The following counties are currently experiencing power outages for more than 1,000 customers:

Brevard County – 29,720 customers, 10% outage

Clay County – 9,894 customers, 13% outage

Duval County – 122,778 customers, 27% outage

Flagler County – 36,507 customers, 62% outage

Indian River County – 7,050 customers, 8% outage

Lake County – 1,661 customers, 1% outage

Marion County – 1,336 customers, 1% outage

Martin County – 4,570 customers, 5% outage

Nassau County – 2,600 customers, 9% outage

Orange County – 3,464 customers, 1% outage

Putnam County – 8,522 customers, 21% outage

Seminole County – 7,129 customers, 3% outage

St. Johns County – 14,380 customers, 14% outage

St. Lucie County – 10,620 customers, 7% outage

Volusia County – 112,396 customers, 39% outage

Total without power: 373,697 customers, 4% outage

WIFI HOT SPOTS

To alleviate some of the burden from storm-related damages and help residents and emergency personnel stay connected in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, Comcast is opening up thousands of XFINITY WiFi hotspots in areas impacted by the storm in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Hotspots are currently open in the following Florida Counties:

Duval County

Indian River County

Martin County

Nassau County

St. Lucie County

St. John's County

These WiFi hotspots are open to anyone who needs them – including non-Comcast subscribers. For a map of XFINITY WiFi hotspots, users should visit www.xfinity.com/wifi.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS

Individual counties initial damage assessments are ongoing.

The federal government approved portions of Governor Rick Scott’s request for a major disaster declaration for Florida due to severe damage caused by Hurricane Matthew. The approved declaration covers debris removal and emergency protective measures in eight counties including Duval, Flagler, Brevard, Nassau, Volusia, Indian River, St. Johns and St. Lucie. At this time, funding has not been approved for individual assistance or for permanent work to government buildings, roads and parks.

To see the approval letter, click HERE.

The state supports this initial impact assessment process through the State Emergency Response Team by providing personnel and resources towards “First 72 Hour” priorities of law enforcement security, search and rescue, and incident stabilization of Florida’s impacted communities.

SHELTERS

There are currently 28 shelters open throughout Florida with a total population of more than 340 individuals. This includes 10 special needs shelters who are serving 179 clients at this time. This number will be updated throughout the day.

As evacuation orders are lifted and people return to their homes, the number of available shelters is updating regularly. To find out which shelters remain open in your county, please visit http://www.floridadisaster.org/shelters/

EVACUATIONS

While evacuation zones are being lifted, local law enforcement decides when it is safe for Floridians to return to their communities. Please contact your county's emergency operations center citizen information line to find out if your area has been declared safe to re-enter. To find your county, click HERE.

The following counties have mandatory evacuation orders still in place:

Indian River County

Volusia County

Floridians and visitors can go to FloridaEvacuates.com or download the Florida-Evacuates app to enter their location and see shelters available in their area.

FUEL

The state is monitoring for supply, distribution or retail fuel shortages or issues, specifically for isolated incidents of individual retailers experiencing temporary fuel shortages. These individual retailers are being quickly refueled and fuel is readily available across Florida.

The state will continue to monitor and assist with state and local government fuel assistance requests.

The current fuel supply in the state will last for nearly 5 days, even if all ports are temporarily closed.

All ports have reopened. With the exception of the Port of Jacksonville, all ports are resuming normal fuel delivery schedules.

The state is working with fuel partners and suppliers to increase the number trucks moving fuel from the ports to retail locations.

MILITARY SUPPORT

The Florida National Guard has troops conducting support operations in St. Johns, Duval, Nassau, Putnam, Volusia, Flagler and Brevard Counties.

The Florida National Guard also has 69 members supporting shelters in four counties.

Governor Scott has directed the Florida National Guard to activate a total of 3,500 National Guard members to support hurricane preparedness and response. This is over half of the available troops that may be activated.

In addition to this, Florida has over 3,000 National Guard members ready to be deployed if needed.

LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIRE FIGHTING AND SEARCH & RESCUE

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), and other partnering agencies have identified resources for deployment to assist with search and rescue efforts.

FWC has demobilized their ground units and are on standby.

FWC currently has five pilots flying missions in the impacted area for public safety patrol.

FHP has over 250 Quick Action Force members deployed for public safety patrol across affected areas. FHP also has more than 320 personnel on standby. FHP is also continuing to use aircraft to monitor road conditions when weather permits.

SCHOOL CLOSURES

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) activated its emergency contact system for the east coast Florida school districts and colleges, and is monitoring closures made at the district and college levels.

The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in Jacksonville will be closed for the remainder of the week.

Currently, the following counties have

confirmed

that schools will be closed on Monday, October 10

th

:

Brevard

Clay

Duval

Flagler

St. Johns

Volusia

DeSoto (closed for teacher planning day unrelated to Hurricane Matthew)

PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL

DOH is monitoring and supporting special needs shelters.

The state is deploying State Medical Response Teams (SMRT) to hospitals in Volusia and Brevard Counties.

Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Teams are responding with SMRT.

The following hospitals are closed/evacuated patients:

Health First Cape Canaveral Hospital, Cocoa Beach

Florida Hospital Oceanside, Ormond Beach

Florida Hospital New Symrna, New Symrna Beach

Riverpoint Behavior Health Hospital, Jacksonville

DOH will be updating hospital evacuation information at FLHealth.gov

AHCA will continue to communicate with healthcare facilities over the weekend for updates and support. After hours contact information has been provided to over 8,000 nursing home and assisted living providers, and hospitals in the affected areas. Post impact reporting instructions have been shared including providing power status, generator status, and re-entry post evacuation.

TOLLS

Governor Scott directed DOT to suspend all tolls in the affected areas of the state, which includes the entire Florida Turnpike, Alligator Alley, Central Florida Expressway Authority and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. All toll suspensions remain in effect and will remain suspended until at least Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. County DOT officials will review this on a case by case basis.

AIRPORTS

The following airport is closed:

Northeast Florida Regional Airport: CLOSED

As airports open, please contact the airport directly for hours of operation and flight schedules.

TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC WORKS

All interstates in Florida are currently open.

FDOT has completed damage assessments of roadways and inspections of bridges in Southeast Florida. There was very little road damage and evacuees began to return to the area on Friday afternoon.

Information on road and bridge closures can be found at http://www.fl511.com.

FDOT crews and contractors are assessing State Roads in Central Florida, Northeast Florida, and along the east coast. FDOT is also cutting and clearing trees and removing road obstructions.

Contractors are inspecting construction sites and will resume construction when safe and per schedules.

SunRail is anticipating a return to normal operations on Monday. TriRail is anticipating a return to normal operations on today, Sunday, October 9th.

Florida Highway Patrol traffic incidents by region can be found here.

HUMAN SERVICES

Resources and Supplies

The Florida Baptist Disaster Relief Ministries

There are currently two operational field kitchens in Palm Coast and Fleming Island. The Florida Baptist will begin feeding at two additional sites on October 10, 2016 in St. Augustine and North Jacksonville.

The Salvation Army (TSA)

TSA is providing services in seven counties and has served more than 13,700 meals to affected individuals.

Operating 31 mobile canteens to serve impacted families and continue to serve the following areas:

Brevard (5)

Volusia (11)

Indian River (2)

St. Johns (4)

Clay (3)

Duval (6)

The American Red Cross (ARC)

To date, ARC has provided nearly 25,000 meals to affected individuals.

ARC has 49 Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV) working in the impacted area to provide food and bulk distribution.

The state is working to identify short term and long term mass care needs.

Anheuser-Busch is donating nine truckloads, more than 450,000 cans, of emergency drinking water in preparation for Hurricane Matthew. Several truckloads are headed to Florida communities including Deerfield Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Melbourne and Daytona Beach.

Coca-Cola is donating 10 truckloads, more than 360,000 bottles of Dasani water to the Jacksonville area.

Youfit Health Clubs will be opening their doors to the public today to help those who lost power from the storm. Visit their Facebook page for a list of all open locations.

To help customers displaced and impacted by hurricane Matthew, AT&T and Verizon are waiving data overage charges for customers in affected areas.

Food Safety Assessment teams have been mobilized to monitor power outages and flooding to ensure safety at food establishments once weather conditions improve.

The Division of Real Estate Development and Management continues to provide office space for FEMA in Tallahassee and space in Orlando to assist in response efforts.

The Division of Real Estate Development and Management EOC has transferred to Orlando to coordinate the logistics staging area for equipment in response to the storm.

To report price gouging call the Florida Attorney General's Office at 866- 9NO-SCAM or visit http://www.myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/PriceGouging!OpenForm

Volunteer Organizations

Volunteer Florida has established a volunteer registration link for those who are interested in volunteering following Hurricane Matthew. Please visit www.volunteerflorida.org/hurricane-matthew  to register. So far, more than1,800 volunteers have registered.

Individuals can also volunteer through the Red Cross by visiting RedCross.org

The state is working with Volunteer Florida and other volunteers and donation agencies to identify available volunteers through Florida Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and AmeriCorps to staff shelters, provide immediate recovery needs, and begin to identify clean up needs.

Volunteer Florida is working with Community Emergency Response Teams for deployment to impacted areas and is coordinating operations at shelters for evacuees.

Blood Donations

OneBlood has resumed normal operations and is urging donors to donate as soon as possible to replenish the blood supply. All locations have returned to normal business hours with the exception of Jacksonville.

For a list of OneBlood Donor Centers and Big Red Bus blood drive locations visit www.oneblood.org.

Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD)

All regions have called staff, providers, waiver support coordinators, and stakeholders to ensure health and safety of customers. To date there are no reported issues.

Group Home Provider Evacuations Include:

Southeast Region: MacTown Redding Group Home (Boyton Beach)

Central Region: PediatricPavilion (Orlando)

Northeast Region: Hibiscus Group Home (Jacksonville)

Residents are expected to return when power is restored

Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA)

The Department of Elder Affairs continues to coordinate with Area Agencies on Aging across the state to ensure that services are meeting the needs of elders and adults with disabilities across the state without disruption.

Meals continue to be served to homebound clients, and extra frozen and shelf-stable meals have also been provided.

Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs (FDVA)

Three of the state veterans’ nursing homes operated by the FDVA are on the east coast of Florida: The Emory L. Bennett State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Volusia County continues to run on generator power. The generators have enough diesel fuel to power the entire home for multiple days without refueling, and all residents and staff are secure.

Inspection of grounds by senior staff revealed only cosmetic damage. Both homes fully are functional.

BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, & ECONOMIC STABILIZATION

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is currently surveying businesses in the affected counties through the Florida Virtual Business Emergency Operations Center (FLVBEOC). The FLVBEOC is available at www.flvbeoc.org

There is Office and Warehouse space offerings for displaced or damaged businesses. For availability, click HERE.

The state has activated the Private Sector Hotline at 850-410-1403. The hotline is available for business inquiries about the storm, preparedness information and post-impact information from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM ET.

The state is currently identifying the open status and timeline of businesses in affected areas and preparing a status report for local communities to access.

INSURANCE

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, Floridians affected by the storm must now begin the process of surveying damages to their property and belongings. If you need help finding your Florida's property insurance company's website and contact information, click HERE. For a list of licensed insurance agents in Florida, click HERE.

It is important to document all damaged property and belongings. A free smartphone app developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners called "MyHome Scr.APP.book" is available to assist with photo documentation.

If you suspect fraud or suspicious activity or if you have questions about insurance coverage, you can call the Department of Financial Services, Division of Consumer Services' Insurance Helpline at 1-877-693-5236. You can find other hurricane season resources from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation HERE.

OIR will continue to communicate with DFS regarding the establishment of an insurance village, a mobile location for individuals to file insurance claims, if needed following the hurricane. OIR and DFS will also closely track insurance complaints to help protect Floridians.

HOTELS/ LODGING ACCOMMODATIONS

VISIT FLORIDA will keep the Emergency Accommodations Module activated to provide available hotel accommodations to visitors. To view available accommodations, click HERE.

VISIT FLORIDA and Expedia have partnered to identify cities and hotels which are further away from the projected storm path and have availability. Please visit www.expedia.com/florida to find available lodging.

Airbnb expanded activation of the Disaster Response Tool beyond coastal South Carolina to include portions of Florida. Please visit www.airbnb.com/disaster/florida to find available lodging.

Airbnb is asking hosts to aid in this effort by listing their available rooms or homes on the platform to help house the growing number of evacuees.

Local residents impacted by Hurricane Matthew will be able to secure emergency accommodations through the tool free of charge from now through October 12th.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The Division of Telecommunications continues to work to resolve communication infrastructure needs and expedite restoration of services throughout the state to ensure first responders, residents and visitors are able to communicate response and recovery needs.

The division is coordinating communications status reports of outages, affects or unmet needs with the telecommunications industry and assisting with access to communications facilities in impacted areas.

The Division of State Purchasing has leased facilities for logistical staging areas in Central Florida to assist emergency response needs throughout the state.

SEAPORTS

All seaports are now open.

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE)

Initial post storm inspections have been completed. No issues or concerns were identified with the Herbert Hoover Dike. Weekly inspections of the dike will occur in accordance with the HHD Emergency Action Plan. The lake elevation has reduced from yesterday and is currently 16.09 feet. Daily inspections of the southern portion of the lake will begin if the lake elevation exceeds 17 feet.

Discharges to the east and the west of the lake are ongoing to mitigate flood risks.

USACE Jacksonville District is conducting surveys of the damage to federally funded USACE projects and is prepared to assist with additional missions in support of affected areas if requested.

ST JOHNS WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Will open during normal business hours on Monday.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

DEP has deployed beach erosion assessment teams across the east coast.

State park assessment teams have been deployed to remove debris and reopen state parks. 14 state parks and campgrounds remain closed. To view the full list, click HERE.

Household Hazardous Waste debris and drop off sites have been established in all 67 counties.

DEP is mobilizing responders to Jacksonville and Orlando areas for Hazardous Waste Assessment teams with EPA.

CONTACTS:

The Florida Emergency Information Line (FEIL) has activated and can be reached at 1 (800) 342-3557.

State Emergency Operations Center Media Line: 850-921-0217.

Follow @FLSert or @FLGovScott on Twitter for live updates on Hurricane Matthew.

Visit http://www.floridadisaster.org/info to find information on shelters, road closures, and evacuation routes.