Jacksonville, Fla. residents should begin to prepare now for the 2006 hurricane season according to Chip Patterson, chief of the city’s Emergency Preparedness Division. Patterson recently told the Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Council it is a myth that Jacksonville is immune to hurricanes.
“Bad things are still going to happen and readiness does not take away from disaster,” Patterson told the Jacksonville Daily-Record. “We (city officials) are doing things we need to do, but that still does not take the horror away from a disaster.
“We are as far west as some towns in Ohio, so we do get a little benefit from that,” he said. “But the myth builds up and it causes people not to take steps (to prepare themselves).”
Patterson said there is always a possibility of being hit and historically Jacksonville has been impacted by hurricanes for more than 100 years.
“I am very concerned about individual and family preparedness,” he said. “If families are not prepared, the overall preparedness is lower.”
Before hurricane season begins again on June 1, Patterson said, the city is going to spend a great deal of resources to help the public prepare.
This year was a record year for hurricanes and the city has already taken steps to make sure the public knows how important it is to be prepared.
“Horror was piped into our living rooms (after Hurricane Katrina),” he said. “But sometimes we don’t bring that back to where we live.”
This year Patterson was able to see firsthand what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf states. After the hurricane he went with the Incident Management Team from northeast Florida to Harrison County in Mississippi to help their Emergency Operations Center.
From his time there he saw how important it was for people to evacuate when they are told to, and that is what he wants to communicate back to the local population.
“If a large hurricane would hit Jacksonville, there would be a quarter of a million people in Jacksonville that need to get out,” he told the Daily-Record. “We have to communicate the idea that we can be affected (by a hurricane).”
Mayor John Peyton launched Operation Reality Check, in which the City provides information to people about the destruction hurricanes can cause so they know what it means for their homes and businesses.
There are 40 poles placed around Jacksonville showing the storm surge height for the different categories of storms.
“The poles are very important and they are there to help eliminate the loss of life,” Patterson said. “There can be significant storm surge 18 miles from the coast in Jacksonville.”
One of the biggest surprises that hit a lot of people in the United States after Hurricane Katrina was the storm surge. He said 90 percent of all deaths came from the storm surge.
Patterson gave the crowd an idea of what Downtown Jacksonville would look like if a Category 3 storm hit the First Coast. He said there would be storm surge from the rising tide and there would be 8 feet of water in the Landing, according to computer models. Although there are a few high spots like the land where Cathedral Towers and JEA sit, Hogan Creek is behind that, which could also cause flooding.
From Hurricane Katrina, there was an unofficial report that there was 40 feet of storm surge. On the City’s Web site, www.coj.net, there are links to look at storm surge maps and it also shows where the 40 storm surge poles were placed, he said.
If a big hurricane hit Jacksonville, it would be similar to the destruction that Hurricane Wilma caused in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, he said.
“Upper stories would be gutted, there would be flooding in the lower levels,” he said. “A lot of the buildings (Downtown) structurally can’t stand the pressure from fast-moving water.”
Patterson added that the state of Florida has building codes, but in areas like south Florida they are much more stringent, compared to the codes Jacksonville uses. Previously the wind zones in Duval County buildings had to be built to handle 90-mile-per-hour winds, which is a Category 2 hurricane. Now the new building codes state that buildings must be able to sustain 100-110 mile per hour winds, he said.
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