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CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY BUFORT COUNTY.
WE'RE ABOUT READY TO GET STARTED.
UH, WE HAVE FROM BOTH BUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER COUNTY, SOME REPRESENTATIVES TO TALK ABOUT HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS.
SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I'M GOING TO ASK COLONEL BAXLEY, WHERE DID HE, THERE HE IS, UH, TO COME FORWARD AND JOIN US IN REPRESENTING BUFORT COUNTY.
AND WE ALSO HAVE WITH US TODAY, UM, WE HAVE, UM, THE CHIEF OF JASPER COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE, AND THE DEPUTY CHIEF AND BOARD MEMBER AND COUNCIL MEMBER JOEY RALPH, IN THE CITY OF HARVILLE.
SO COLONEL BAXLEY, TAKE IT AWAY.
I'M GOING TO DO, I NEED THAT BECAUSE IT'S BEING RECORDED.
YOU WANNA PUT IT HERE AND JUST YELL AT IT? THAT'S WHAT I'D RATHER DO.
UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? OR YOU COULD STAND BEHIND A PODIUM AND THAT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A BAPTIST MINISTER.
SO IF I'M GONNA DO THIS, THEN I'M GONNA DO LIKE A BAPTIST MINISTER AND I'M GONNA TAKE MY WATCH OFF AND I'M GONNA PUT IT UP HERE ON THE PULPIT.
YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, RIGHT? ABSOLUTELY.
SO I THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I NEEDED TO COME IN HERE AND SAY TO THIS, UH, VERY INTERESTING BODY.
I'VE NEVER SPOKEN TO A GROUP LIKE THIS.
I NORMALLY SPEAK TO COMMUNITIES, UH, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, THIS SORT OF THING WITH A VERY, UH, DIRECTED MESSAGE.
BUT I FELT LIKE DEALING WITH THE ADMINISTRATORS, THE MAYORS, UH, THEIR DEPUTIES, THAT SORT OF THING.
IT WAS PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT THAT I EXPLAINED TO YOU.
IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS, WHAT THE PROCESS IS.
AND IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH, THEN IT'S A REFRESHER.
SO IN SOUTH CAROLINA, FOR ANY TYPE OF EMERGENCY, THE GOVERNOR AND THE GOVERNOR ALONE BY STATE STATUTE, HAS THE AUTHORITY TO DECLARE THE EMERGENCY.
AND ONCE HE DECLARES IT, WE ALL, BEING LAW ENFORCEMENT, EVERYBODY, WE WORK FOR THE GOVERNOR.
SO AT THAT POINT, THE SHERIFF, UH, BECOMES THE GOVERNOR'S REPRESENTATIVE.
THE GOVERNOR WILL ONLY DO THAT BASED ON BEST INFORMATION.
AND IN A HURRICANE SITUATION, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, HE'S GONNA BE TAKING INFORMATION FROM THE STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
HE'S GONNA BE TAKING INFORMATION FROM THE COUNTIES.
HE'S GONNA BE TAKING INFORMATION FROM THE WEATHER SERVICE.
AND THEN HE'S GOT SOME OTHER FOLKS THAT HE'S LISTENING TO ALSO THAT ARE GIVING HIM, UH, A LITTLE BIT BALANCED, YOU KNOW, DEALING WITH THE ECONOMY, DEALING WITH TOURISM, OTHER ISSUES, UH, THAT MIGHT IMPACT HIS DECISION.
SO THE GOVERNOR HAS FULL AUTHORITY HOW WE WORK IT IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND HOW IT'S WORKED IN ALL THE, ALL THE COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, BY AGAIN, STATE LAW, EACH COUNTY IS REQUIRED TO HAVE AN EMERGENCY MANAGER.
SO THERE ARE 46 EMERGENCY MANAGERS.
I HOLD THAT POSITION IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
UH, RUSTY HOLDS IT IN JASPER COUNTY.
WE WORK VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER ON A LOT OF, ON A LOT OF ISSUES, ON PRETTY MUCH ALL ISSUES.
UM, BUT WE ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE THAT POSITION FILLED.
IN 2014 IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, THE SHERIFF AND THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR AT THE TIME DECIDED THE CURRENT DIRECTOR WAS RETIRING, AND HE WAS WEARING SPLIT HATS, KINDA LIKE THE CHIEF HERE, ANSWERING PARTIALLY TO THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR AND PARTIALLY TO THE SHERIFF.
AND THAT CAN GET CONFUSING AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW, IT COULD BE GET MORE CONFUSING.
SO THEY DECIDED TO COMBINE IT, PUT IT UNDER THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, AND SHERIFF ASKED ME IF I WANTED THE JOB, AND I SAID, ABSOLUTELY, I'D LOVE TO HAVE THE JOB.
SO HE MOVED ME FROM WHERE I WAS AT, INTO THAT POSITION.
BEEN THERE SINCE, UH, BEGINNING OF 2014.
I AN SIR, I, I DON'T ANSWER TO, BUT I REPORT TO THE STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR ON ALL OF OUR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ISSUES.
I ANSWER TO THE SHERIFF, BUT I GIVE HIM REPORTS.
IN FACT, I'M GOING TO COLUMBIA TOMORROW TO, TO, UH, PARTICIPATE IN DIRECTOR'S WORKSHOP WHEN AN EMERGENCY BEGINS TO THREATEN THE STATE.
AND THE, IN THE HURRICANE CASE, THE, UH, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER HAS TRACKING A STORM, AND THEY'RE SAYING THAT IT'S POINTED AT BEAUFORT COUNTY.
WE BEGIN TO, IT'S POINTED SOUTH CAROLINA, POSSIBLY BEAUFORT COUNTY.
WE BEGIN TO WORK UP AND I WILL ACTIVATE WHAT'S CALLED THE POLICY GROUP.
THE POLICY GROUP CONSISTS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF COUNTY COUNCIL, THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR, THE SHERIFF, AND THE MAYORS OF THE MUNICIPALITIES, AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TRACK COMMAND OF THE MARINE CORPS, AIR STATION, PARIS ISLAND AND NAVAL HOSPITAL.
THE FIRST MEETING WE MIGHT COMBINE, UH, CONVENE VIRTUALLY, BUT THEN AFTER THAT, WE'LL START TO CALL THEM TO THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
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IN THE ROOM, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO ATTEND, BUT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE HAS TO ATTEND.AND THEN ONCE WE, UH, THE THREAT GETS CLOSER, WE'LL ASK THE POLICY GROUP TO STAY IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THE EVENT.
IT REALLY DOES NOT NEED TO BE THE MAYORS THEN, BECAUSE THERE'S TOO MUCH ELSE GOING ON THAT THE MAYORS HAVE TO DEAL WITH TO BE SITTING IN THAT ROOM PRETTY MUCH LOCKED DOWN, UH, DEALING WITH THE MECHANISMS AND THE LOGISTICS OF THE ISSUE.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, TOWN OF HILTON HEAD, THE REPRESENTATIVE THIS YEAR IS MS. STONE.
AND SHE'S ALREADY COME UP AND MET WITH US, UH, TO SEE WHERE SHE'LL BE WORKING AT, UH, WHERE SHE'LL BE SLEEPING AT, EATING AT, UH, WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE OF, OF HER FROM US AND OF US FROM HER.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL THE OTHER MUNICIPALITIES DETERMINE WHO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS AND SEND THEM UP.
UH, MR. MARSHALL OVER HERE, WHEN HE WORKED WITH BLUFFTON, WAS THE REPRESENTATIVE THROUGH THREE OR FOUR STORMS. AND HE CAME AND HE CAN TELL YOU THE WAR STORIES.
HE CAME AND HE STAYED, UH, DURING MATTHEW, I THINK WE WERE THERE ABOUT EIGHT DAYS STRAIGHT BEFORE WE WERE ABLE TO FINALLY BREAK IT DOWN AND LEAVE THE POLICY GROUP CONVENES.
THE POLICY GROUP'S JOB IS TO DO EXACTLY THAT, TO MAKE POLICY FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY.
I'M, I'M, I'M NOT TALKING HOW TO TURN HERE, UH, IS TO MAKE POLICY.
THE EVACUATION PART THAT'S SIMPLE.
WE HAVE A PLAN, THE GOVERNOR ORDERS IT.
WE'RE GONNA IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.
WE'VE TRAINED IT, WE'VE REHEARSED IT, WE'VE EXERCISED IT, AND WE'VE DONE IT FOR REAL TIME.
THAT'S EASY IS THE REST OF IT.
HOW MUCH DAMAGE DO WE GET? DO WE NEED CURFEWS? UH, DO WE HAVE CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE? DO WE NEED BLOCKADES? DO WE NEED THE REENTRY PLAN? ALL OF THIS KIND OF STUFF IS DISCUSSED BY THE POLICY GROUP, AND WE REACH CONSENSUS.
AND THOSE DISCUSSIONS CAN GET PRETTY, UH, PRETTY INTENSE, AND THAT'S FINE.
THAT'S THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE.
AND THEN ONCE WE REACH CONSENSUS, WE GET ON CONFERENCE CALLS WITH THE STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR AND THE GOVERNOR, OR HIS CHIEF OF STAFF IS LISTENING TO THOSE CALLS, AND ALL THE COASTAL AFFECTED COUNTIES ARE ON THOSE CALLS.
AND WE TELL THEM WHERE BEAUFORT COUNTY'S POSITION IS.
EVERYBODY'S IN THE ROOM AND I'M RELAYING THE INFORMATION WE TELL THE GOVERNOR WHERE BEAUFORT COUNTY'S POSITION IS, GOVERNOR, WE DON'T THINK WE NEED AN EVACUATION GOVERNOR.
WE THINK WE NEED AN EVACUATION.
IT NEEDS TO START AT EIGHT O'CLOCK TOMORROW MORNING, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE.
AND THEN AS WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, IF WE NEED CURFEWS, WE ARE WRITING THOSE UP.
WE ARE DO AGREEING THAT WE NEED THE CURFEWS, AND THEN WE'RE PREPARING TO IMPLEMENT THEM.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE POLICY GROUP DOES.
SO, UH, I DON'T, AGAIN, THE MAYORS DON'T NEED TO BE THERE BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT A LOT OF OTHER THINGS, BUT THEY NEED A REPRESENTATIVE THERE WHO CAN REPRESENT THEM, ACT ON THEIR PART, UH, AND MAKE DECISIONS.
ESPECIALLY IF COMMUNICATIONS BREAK DOWN.
WE NEED TO KNOW THAT THAT PERSON IN THERE CAN ACT INDEPENDENTLY AND MAKE THE DECISIONS FOR THAT ENTITY.
SO THAT PERSON NEEDS TO BE VERY FAMILIAR WITH WHAT THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF THEIR ENTITY THAT THEY'RE REPRESENTING IS.
AND THEN FINALLY, EVERY ENTITY IN BEAUFORT COUNTY HAS A PUBLIC SPOKESPERSON.
WE NEED THOSE FOLKS TO BE SPEAKING AS ONE VOICE.
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE ALL SPEAK AS ONE VOICE.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE DIFFERENT ISSUES TO ADDRESS, BUT WE HAVE TO SPEAK AS ONE VOICE.
IF ONE ENTITY IS SAYING, IT'S BEAUTIFUL, IT'S OVER, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
COME HOME, EVERYTHING'S GREAT.
BUT YET WE KNOW THAT HALF THE COUNTIES HAD, UH, GOT SEVERE DAMAGE, UH, AND MAYBE STILL HAS FLOODING TREES DOWN, POWER LINES DOWN SORT OF THING.
AND THEY'RE SAYING, OH, NO, NO, NO, WE CAN'T DO THAT.
WE'VE GOTTA SPEAK AS ONE VOICE.
WE HAVE DAMAGES, WE HAVE ISSUES.
IF YOU REMEMBER THE TRAINING YOU TOOK INTO 100, 200, 700 AND 800, WE TALKED ABOUT A JIC, A JOINT INFORMATION CENTER.
THAT'S WHERE ALL THE SPOKESPERSONS WILL COME TOGETHER, WHETHER IT'S PHYSICALLY OR VIRTUALLY.
AND THEY WILL AGREE, THESE ARE THE STATEMENTS WE NEED TO PUT OUT, AND WE'LL ADDRESS THE INDIVIDUAL ISSUES IN THE STATEMENT, BUT WE WILL SPEAK AS ONE VOICE.
THE MEDIA WILL BE LOOKING FOR THE SPLIT.
THE PUBLIC WILL BE LOOKING FOR THE SPLIT THAT THEY CAN AGGRAVATE, THAT THEY CAN, UH, WIDEN ANYTHING THEY CAN DO TO MAKE IT MORE CHAOTIC.
SO AS WE'RE SPEAKING AS ONE VOICE, WE HAVE TO BE DOING THAT IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THE EVENT.
SO THE POLICY GROUP CONVENES, WE'RE THERE FOR THE DURATION.
WE FEED 'EM, WE HOUSE 'EM, WE TAKE, UH, AS GOOD CARE OF 'EM AS POSSIBLE.
IF WE HAVE TO EVACUATE BEAUFORT COUNTY AND MOVE TO BARNWELL AND HAMPTON, WE TAKE THEM WITH US AS A GROUP AND THE MAYORS SCATTER TO THEIR SAFE LOCATIONS, AND WE'VE STILL GOT THAT COHESIVE GROUP WORKING TOGETHER.
AND THEN WHEN IT'S OVER WITH, WE'LL DISBAND IT AND WE'LL BUILD TOGETHER RECOVERY.
IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE NEWS, UH, OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS OR SO, YOU'VE SEEN A BIG SHIFT IN FEMA UH, IN THE PAST.
FEMA HAS GIVEN US INDICATION OVER
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THE LAST FOUR OR FIVE YEARS THAT THEY WANTED TO BACK OUT OF, OF THE DISASTER FUNDING BUSINESS.UH, TO SOME DEGREE, WE'VE SEEN A RAPID INCREASE IN THAT MOVEMENT IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS.
BEAUFORT COUNTY'S CURRENT THRESHOLD FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE DAMAGE.
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE IS GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S DAMAGED.
OUR CURRENT THRESHOLD IS JUST SHY OF A MILLION DOLLARS.
THAT'S TWICE WHAT IT WAS IN 2016.
THE STATE'S CURRENT THRESHOLD IS JUST SHY OF $10 MILLION.
SO WHAT HAPPENS IS, AFTER WE'VE HAD AN EVENT, WE GO OUT QUICKLY WITH OUR CODES ENFORCEMENT FOLKS AND OUR, OUR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TEAMS, AND THEY DETERMINE PUBLIC DAMAGE.
AND THIS IT'S WINDSHIELD SHOTS AND CAMERA SHOTS.
YEAH, THIS BUILDING LOOKS TO BE 75% DESTROYED.
IT'S VALUED AT, UH, A MILLION DOLLARS.
SO WE GOT $750,000 WORTH OF DAMAGE.
WHEN WE GET TO THE, UH, CURRENT MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DAMAGE, THEN WE SUBMIT THAT TO THE STATE AS OUR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, BUT WHEN WE HIT THE THRESHOLD, WE SUBMIT THAT TO THE STATE.
THE STATE HAS TO GET ENOUGH FROM ENOUGH COUNTIES TO GET TO 9 MILLION TO REQUEST A PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATION OF DISASTER.
IF THE PRESIDENT CHOOSES TO GIVE THAT DECLARATION, THEN THE MONEY WILL START FUNDING FLOWING FROM FEMA.
FEMA HAS INDICATED THAT WHERE WE'RE CURRENTLY JUST SHY OF A MILLION IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND 9 MILLION IN THE STATE, UH, THAT MAY RAPIDLY INCREASE BEFORE THE YEAR IS OUT.
UH, THERE'S BEEN TALK OF 50 MILLION FOR THE STATE AND SEVERAL MILLION FOR BEAUFORT COUNTY.
UH, THAT MEANS WE'VE GOT TO HAVE CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TO GET TO THE THRESHOLD, OTHERWISE WE'RE ON OUR OWN.
AND SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU FOLKS REPRESENTING YOUR ENTITIES TO BE THINKING ABOUT THAT IN YOUR BUDGET PROCESS.
YOUR RAINY DAY FUNDS NEED TO BE HEALTHY BECAUSE IT'S VERY POSSIBLE GOING FORWARD THAT WE WILL BE ON OUR OWN IN EVENTS THAT IN THE PAST WE GOT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THAT WE MAY NOT GET IT FOR GOING FORWARD.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO, TO BE HAVE, HAVE VERY HEALTHY RAINY DAY FUNDS.
AND I WILL TELL YOU, WHEN WE DO THE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, TAKE A PERSONAL PITCH HERE, YELLING AT ME BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH DAMAGE IS NOT GONNA ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING, UH, EXCEPT MAKE ALL OF US JUST TIRED AND, AND WORE OUT.
SO WE'LL TAKE THE NUMBERS WE'VE GOT, WE'LL SUBMIT 'EM TO COLUMBIA.
BUT YELLING AT ME WON'T CHANGE ANY OF THAT.
IT DIDN'T CHANGE IT THE LAST TIME I GOT YELLED AT, AND IT WON'T CHANGE IT THE NEXT TIME I GET YELLED AT.
UH, BUT IF YOU FEEL BETTER YELLING AT ME, GO AHEAD.
UH, THE LAST THING THAT I WANNA TOUCH ON IS, IS SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC THERE, BUT I WANNA TELL YOU ABOUT THE 9 1 1 CENTER AND THE THINGS WE'VE BEEN DOING OVER THE PAST, UH, 10 YEARS TO BUILD, WELL, EIGHT YEARS TO BUILD A RESILIENCY IN THE 9 1 1 CENTER.
IN 2015, THE STATE RFA, UH, REVENUE FISCAL AFFAIRS OFFICE, THEY ARE THE STATE 9 1 1 CONTROLLING ENTITY CREATED A STRATEGIC PLAN.
AND I WAS ON THE COMMITTEE THAT HELPED WRITE IT, AND WE DECIDED TO BUILD REGIONAL E NETS, EMERGENCY SERVICE INTERNETS, UM, AND GET OFF OF THE LEGACY COPPER PHONE LINES THAT ARE STRUNG POLE TO PULL AND PUT IT INTO A DIGITAL SYSTEM.
THIS IS CALLED NEXT GENERATION 9 1 1.
AS PART OF THAT, THE STRATEGIC PLAN, THERE ARE REGIONAL E NETS WERE TO BE BUILT.
CHARLESTON, BEAUFORT, BERKELEY AND RE COUNTIES CHOSE TO GO TOGETHER AND BUILD A REGIONAL E NET.
WE DID THE, DID THE HOMEWORK, WE DID THE VENDOR PROCESS.
WE HIRED A VENDOR TO BUILD IT FOR US, A COMPANY CALLED IN DIGITAL.
WE HAVE BEEN LIVE ON THIS SYSTEM NOW FOR, UH, BEAUFORT COUNTY'S BEEN LIVE FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS.
CHARLESTON'S A LITTLE BIT AHEAD OF US.
UM, BERKELEY'S LIVE RIGHT BEHIND US AND ORI CAME A FEW MONTHS AFTER US.
WHAT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO IS IF OUR 9 1 1 CENTER FAILS FOR SOME REASON, FOR ANY REASON, THE BUILDING CATCHES FIRE AND WE HAVE TO ABANDON, WE CAN NOTIFY IN DIGITAL WITH ONE PHONE CALL AND THEY WILL TRANSFER ALL OF OUR 9 1 1 CALLS TO THE OTHER COUNTIES.
CHARLESTON WILL THEN OUR OREO BERKELEY WILL TAKE OUR 9 1 1 CALLS, ANSWER THE 9 1 1 CALLS, AND THEN THEY WILL GIVE THEM BACK TO US.
WE TAKE OUR LAPTOPS, WE TAKE OUR PORTABLE RADIOS, WE CAN GO TO THE STARBUCKS.
WE'D PROBABLY GO TO THE WAFFLE HOUSE, NOT QUITE AS BUSY.
WE CAN SET UP ON THE COUNTER THERE AS LONG AS WE CAN GET WIFI INTERNET.
SOON AS WE CAN PHYSICALLY GET INTO THE ROOM AND GET SET BACK UP.
WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS AS A DISPATCH CENTER IN A ROOM LIKE THIS.
LAPTOP PORTABLE RADIO, CHARLESTON TAKES THE 9 1 1 CALL.
THEY LOAD IT INTO A SYSTEM THAT WE'RE USING, UH, TOGETHER.
CALL US ON THE RADIO THROUGH OUR STATEWIDE NETWORK.
TELL US WE'RE SENDING YOU A CALL OVER EMS CALL, UH, TO LADIES ISLAND.
WE KEY UP THE RADIO ON THE DMS CHANNEL.
TELL EMS TO RESPOND TO THIS CALL LIAISON.
YEAR AND A HALF AGO, WE HAD A POWER FAILURE OUTSIDE OF OUR BUILDING, BUT IT TOOK DOWN THE
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COUNTY NETWORK.WE IMMEDIATELY IMPLEMENTED THIS.
WE CALLED IN DIGITAL TRANSFER OUR CALLS TO CHARLESTON COUNTY.
WE WERE CHARLESTON HAD OUR, UH, HAD OUR SYSTEM WITHIN 60 SECONDS.
AND OVER THE NEXT 90 MINUTES UNTIL WE COULD GET THE POWER BACK UP AND ON THE NETWORK, THEY WERE TAKING OUR 9 1 1 CALLS AND GIVING THEM BACK TO US.
THEY TOOK 16 9 1 1 CALLS IN AT 90 MINUTES.
IT WAS A TUESDAY MORNING, RELATIVELY CALM.
AND THEY WERE ABLE TO GIVE 'EM ALL BACK TO US, AND WE WERE ABLE TO DISPATCH THEM.
CHARLESTON HAD TO ABANDON WHEN A WILDFIRE WAS BURNING UP AGAINST THE BACK OF THEIR BUILDING.
BERKELEY AND BEAUFORT WERE TAKING THEIR CALLS AND GIVING THEM BACK TO THEM.
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA JUST RECENTLY JOINED OUR NETWORK BECAUSE WE WANTED TO GET GEO DIVERSE.
AND SO COLLIER COUNTY CAN TAKE OUR CALLS, WE CAN TAKE THEIR CALLS AND GIVE THEM BACK TO US.
THE BEAUTY OF OUR SYSTEM, THE STATE HAS A A, A SEPARATE SYSTEM.
THE STATE SYSTEM IS CENTERED IN ONE CENTER, AND THAT'S PICKENS COUNTY.
SO IF BARNWELL COUNTY CENTER GOES DARK, THEIR 9 1 1 CALLS WILL GO TO PICKENS.
PICKENS CAN ANSWER THE CALL, BUT THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING WITH 'EM.
PICTURE YOU DIAL 9 1 1 AND A CENTER ANSWERS SAY, YEP, THANK YOU FOR CALLING, BUT THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU.
THAT'S NOT A GOOD PLACE TO BE.
SO BEAUFORT COUNTY, CHARLESTON, ORIE AND BERKELEY HAVE BUILT THIS NETWORK AND IT'S WORKING, BUT IT COSTS A BOATLOAD OF MONEY.
WE PAY FOR A BIG CHUNK OF IT THROUGH 9 1 1 FEES THAT ARE ON ALL YOUR CELL PHONES.
UH, YOU'RE CURRENTLY PAYING 62 CENTS A MONTH, A 9 1 1 FEE.
YOU PROBABLY DON'T EVEN NOTICE IT ON YOUR BILL.
THE FOUR COUNTIES THAT I TALK ABOUT REPRESENT 27% OF THE POPULATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
THINK ABOUT THE NUMBER OF CELL PHONES THAT IS, THINK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY BEING SENT TO THE RFA EVERY YEAR.
WELL, BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT JOINED THE STATE'S, RFA SYS, UH, THE STATE'S, UM, E NET SYSTEM, THE RFA HAS DECIDED THEY'RE NO LONGER GOING TO REIMBURSE US AT THE 80%, UH, REIMBURSEMENT THAT WE HAVE BEEN GETTING TO SUPPORT THIS SYSTEM.
AND THEY'VE TOLD US THAT BY 2027, WE'LL GET ZERO REIMBURSEMENT FOR THIS PART OF THIS PROGRAM.
UH, WE CAN GET REIMBURSEMENT FOR CHAIRS, WE CAN GET REIMBURSEMENT FOR, UH, LAPTOP COMPUTERS, BUT WE CANNOT GET REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE, FOR THE REALLY IMPORTANT THING.
AND SO I'LL TELL YOU THIS, WE'VE NOTIFIED OUR LEGISLATIVE DELEGATIONS.
WE'VE NOTIFIED THE GOVERNOR, WE'RE NOT HAPPY THAT THE RFA IS TAKING OUR MONEY AND NOT GIVING IT BACK TO US.
BUT I WANTED YOU TO UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE IF YOU INQUIRE AS, OR YOU SEE OUR BUDGET AND YOU SEE THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY IT TAKES TO MAKE THIS 9 1 1 SYSTEM HAPPEN, YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.
IF WE HAVE A HURRICANE AND WE HAVE TO ABANDON OUR CENTER, AND IT'S NOT AFFECTING ORI, FOR EXAMPLE, OR IT'S NOT AFFECTING BERKELEY, THEY CAN TAKE OUR CALLS AND CONTINUE TO GIVE THEM BACK TO US.
OR IF ALL THOSE CENTERS ARE AFFECTED, CALL YOUR COUNTY, FLORIDA CAN TAKE OUR CALLS AND GIVE THEM BACK TO US.
THE STATE HAS NO INTENTION OF GOING IN THAT DIRECTION.
SO I'LL TELL YOU THAT SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE RESILIENCY WE BUILDING THE AMOUNT OF MONEY IT'S COSTING, AND ONE OF THE ROADBLOCKS WE'RE FACING.
SO WE FEEL LIKE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, WITH THE ISSUES WITH FEMA AND THE THE CUTBACK IN RE UH, IN SUPPORT MONEY THAT MAY BE COMING DOWN THE PIKE, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD TO BECOME AS SELF-SUSTAINING AS POSSIBLE.
WE HAVE MET WITH BEAUFORT JASPER WATER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WOULD TAKE, UH, AND THEIR CAPABILITIES TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE POTABLE WATER AFTER A DISASTER.
AND THEY HAVE A VERY ROBUST SYSTEM THAT AMAZED ME.
IF YOU HAVE A TWO, YOUR BEAUFORT JASPER WATER GO TAKE A TOUR, IT'S WELL WORTH IT.
UH, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY CAN DO.
UH, WE KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO FEED.
WE'VE DONE A, WE'VE DONE AN EXERCISE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO FEED EVERY CITIZEN IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, TWO MEALS A DAY.
AND WE KNOW WHAT IT, WE KNOW WHAT IT WOULD TAKE, HOW WE WOULD DO IT, WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE, BUT WE KNOW WHAT IT WOULD TAKE.
AND THAT'S A BIG PART OF IT, IS UNDERSTANDING THAT, UH, WE HAVE BOUGHT EQUIPMENT.
WE HAVE GOTTEN EQUIPMENT THROUGH THE 10 33 PROGRAM, UH, HIGH WATER VEHICLES AND ALL THESE SORT OF THINGS TO, TO CONTINUE TO MAKE US AS PO AS SELF-SUSTAINING AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE WE REALIZE THAT GOING FORWARD, WE MAY WELL BE ON OUR OWN FOR A GREAT DEAL.
IF I COULD MAKE A SUGGESTION, WHY DON'T WE, UH, INVITE JASPER COUNTY TO COME UP AND WE'LL HAVE QUESTIONS FOR, UH, BOTH OF THEM.
AT THAT TIME, I'LL SURRENDER THE MICROPHONE TO MR. WELLS.
I THINK HE TALKS AS FAST AS A NEW YORKER, DOESN'T HE?
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF JASPER COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES.
UH, COLONEL BAXLEY HAS BRIEFED YOU OUT, UH,
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QUITE EFFICIENTLY.ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO TOUCH ON IS THE, UH, JASPER BEAUFORT REGIONAL SHELTER.
AND SO WHEN BEAUFORT COUNTY EVACUATES OUT, UH, THEY ARE 100% ZONE A EVACUATION ZONE, A JASPER COUNTY, UH, BETWEEN ZONE A, B, AND C, WE'RE ABOUT 53% IN OUR TOTALITY FOR EVACUATION ZONES.
HAVING THE, UH, THE POPULATION THAT WE DO, UM, YOU CANNOT HAVE AN EVACUATION SHELTER WITHIN THE EVACUATION ZONE.
A SO A PARTNERSHIP FORMED BETWEEN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER COUNTY.
IT'S 2025, PROBABLY 12 YEARS AGO, GIVE OR TAKE.
UH, WE WROTE A GRANT UNDER THE HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING GRANT, UH, TO HARDEN ONE OF OUR SCHOOL CAMPUSES.
AND THAT WAS WITH HURRICANE SHUTTERS.
AND THEN WE ALSO PUT A TWO MEGAWATT GENERATOR ON THAT CAMPUS.
SO THAT ENTIRE CAMPUS, UM, WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT DURING AN EVENT, UM, THEY'VE GOT FEEDING FACILITIES, THE KITCHEN IS ALL ELECTRIC, THE HVAC SYSTEM WILL WORK.
AND THEN THEY ALSO HAVE THE HURRICANE SHUTTERS THAT CAN COME DOWN FOR THAT ENTIRE CAMPUS.
NOW, THE BENEFIT OF THAT GENERAL POPULATION SHELTER IS THAT WE ALSO HAVE THE CAPACITY IN A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, UM, TO PROVIDE MEDICAL NEED SHELTERING.
AND SO IF YOU'VE GOT CPAP OR YOU'VE GOT NEBULIZERS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, THAT YOU HAVE A SPECIAL NEED OR FOR MEDICAL CARE, RATHER THAN THE COST OF GOING AND GETTING INTO A HOSPITAL OR BEING ADMITTED TO A HOSPITAL IS DEFRAYED TO THE CITIZENS.
SO NOW THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CALL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
THEY GET THEIR, THEIR ASSIGNMENT, THEY COME IN AND WE'VE ESTABLISHED UP TO 175 BEDS IN THAT SHELTER.
WE DOUBLED THE CAPACITY FOR MEDICAL NEEDS SHELTERING BY THAT ONE FACILITY ALONE.
AND SO WITHIN THAT, ONE OF THE LAST THINGS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO WITHIN THAT PARTNERSHIP WAS MAKE IT PET FRIENDLY.
SO COMPLIANCE WITH FEMA'S REQUIREMENTS TO BE PET FRIENDLY, WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
SO THAT WAS A, A, A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY.
PALMETTO BREEZE PICKS UP INDIVIDUALS WITHIN BEAUFORT COUNTY THAT HAVE TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES AND THEY'RE ABLE TO COME OVER TO THE SHELTER.
WE GET THEM CHECKED IN AND PROCESSED IN JASPER COUNTY.
WE WORK WITH OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT AND THE BUS DRIVERS RUN A MODIFIED ROUTE.
UH, MOST OF THE PICKUP POINTS ARE AT, AT THE FIRE STATIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY.
UM, BUT IF THERE IS A UNIQUE SITUATION, AND THE REASON WHY WE USE BUS DRIVERS IS THEY TEND TO KNOW THEIR COMMUNITY INTIMATELY.
THEY KNOW THE FAMILIES THAT HAVE THOSE CHALLENGES THAT MAY NOT WANT TO REALLY COME FORWARD ON IT.
SO IT GIVES THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, COME ON, LET'S GO.
AND SO THEY TEND TO BRING US THOSE THAT HAVE THE TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES WITHIN JASPER COUNTY.
NOW, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE ALSO HAVE WITH OUR BUS FLEET IS THAT THEY ARE STATE OWNED BUSES.
AND SO IF IT IS A SHORT TO NO NOTICE EVENT, MARINE CORPS, RECRUIT DEPOT, PARIS ISLAND, MAY CALL UPON THOSE BUSES, IT'LL DIMINISH DOWN WHAT WE HAVE IN RESERVE CAPACITY.
BUT FOR THE MOST PART, WE HAVE OPERATED QUITE EFFICIENTLY WITH FEW BUSES AND THEY GET THAT ROUTE DONE IN AN HOUR.
SO SHELTERING IS, UH, IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FOCUS ON IN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH BEAUFORT COUNTY.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ALSO TALK ABOUT IN, IN COLONEL BAXLEY HIT ON WAS THE REENTRY PROCESS.
WE HAVE BOILED THAT DOWN AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE CORRELATE IT TO A STOPLIGHT.
YOU GOT GREEN, RED, AND YELLOW.
IF IT'S RED, WE HAVE, UH, MASSIVE RESPONSE OPERATIONS GOING ON.
UH, THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGE AND AT BEST WE ARE ENCOURAGING THE PUBLIC TO STAY AWAY WHILE WE TRY AND GAIN CONTROL OF WHAT IS GOING ON.
AND SO YELLOW IS INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE BUSINESSES THAT ARE TIED BACK TO HELP US REVITALIZE THE COMMUNITY, GET MORE STABILITY IN, AND IT WOULD BE LIKE GRACO OR LOWE'S OR, YOU KNOW, THE BIG GROCERY STORES.
IF YOU CAN'T GET GROCERIES, YOU DON'T HAVE CLEAN WATER, YOU DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO REPAIR OR STABILIZE YOUR OWN HOME, YOU REALLY DON'T NEED TO BE HERE.
SO, UM, SO IN THE YELLOW, WE START GETTING OUR COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY BACK IN.
AND THEN GREEN IS WHEN IT'S STABLE ENOUGH TO
[00:25:01]
BRING EVERYBODY HOME.UM, SO REENTRY GAVE ME JUST A SECOND.
I'M NOT A, A VERY ELOQUENT PUBLIC SPEAKER.
SO REENTRY SHELTER, IT'LL COME TO, IT'LL COME TO ME, UNFORTUNATELY IT WILL COME TO ME.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, JUST LIKE THE STATE ESI NET, WE, WE PARTICIPATE IN THE STATE ESI NET.
OUR ROLLOVERS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS HAMPTON COUNTY AND COLTON COUNTY.
SO WHEN OUR CENTER GOES DARK, UM, THEY'LL ROLL OVER TO THAT.
WE ALSO, UM, ARE PART OF THE PALMETTO 800 RADIO NETWORK.
SO AGAIN, WE SPIN UP RADIO CHANNELS.
WE'RE ABLE TO CONTINUE ON AND DRIVING IN THE OPERATIONS.
BUT, UM, MAYOR, I THINK THAT THAT WAS ABOUT AS HIGH SPEED, LOW DRAG AS I COULD MAKE IT FOR YOU.
HOPEFULLY WE'VE GOT, WE, WE'VE GOT YOU ON TIME.
AND IF I GET THAT LAST POINT YOU DID, YOU DID WONDERFUL.
UM, CHIEF ROUTE, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD? YEAH, I CAN ADD A COUPLE THINGS TO THAT.
AND YOU ARE, UH, SPEAKING AS DEPUTY CHIEF OF HARDEE BILL FIRE DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? CORRECT.
I, I GOTTA MAKE SURE WHO WE'RE TALKING TO.
ALRIGHT, SO, UH, MY NAME'S JOEY ROUND.
I'M DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF FOR HARVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
ALSO, UH, IN MY SPARE TIME I'M VICE CHAIRMAN FOR COUNTY COUNCIL.
BUT, UH, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE'VE, UH, DISCUSSED THIS MORNING WITH HURRICANES.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO AT THE CITY IS WE HAVE OUR OC, WHICH IS OUR MUNICIPAL EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
UM, I'M THE COORDINATOR FOR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS FOR THE CITY OF HARVILLE.
AND WHAT WE UTIL UTIL WOULD UTILIZE THAT FOR IS TO FUNNEL INFORMATION THROUGH THE, THE COUNTY CHAINS UP THROUGH THE STATE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED.
UM, ONE THING THAT WE WILL SAY IS WHEN EVACUATIONS HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE ZONE A AREAS, EVERYBODY IS COMING DOWN.
THAT 2 78 CORRIDOR, ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF THE BROAD, COMES RIGHT THROUGH HARDY BILL.
SO WE HAVE TO SPIN UP OUR MEOC FOR MULTIPLE REASONS.
ONE OF THE REASONS IS BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE GONNA BE OVER INUNDATED WITH FOLKS THAT WILL BE COMING THROUGH AS WELL AS MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT ASSETS AND DIFFERENT THINGS, UH, PROTECTING OUR CITIZENS.
SO OUR, UH, OPERATION CENTER FOR THE CITY IS A LITTLE BIT MORE SCALED DOWN IN NATURE.
UH, WE DO HAVE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR PUBLIC WORKS, UH, OFFICIALS THERE TO BE ABLE TO HELP MAKE BEST DECISIONS FOR THE CITY TO PUSH OUT TO THE COUNTIES, ET CETERA.
SO, UH, WE WILL RAMP THAT UP, UH, AROUND THE SAME TIMES THAT WHENEVER WE GET INFORMATION FROM BOTH THE COUNTY AND THE STATE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO THAT.
UH, ONE THING THAT I'D LIKE TO EMPHASIZE, UH, BOTH TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FOLKS IN, IN THE AREAS, IF YOU HAVE ANY TYPE OF, UH, NGOS OR ANY THINGS THAT, THAT FUNCTION DURING THE STORM EVENTS THAT RECEIVED ANY TYPE OF FEMA FUNDING, LIKE THE COLONEL WAS SAYING, MAKE SURE THAT PAPERWORK IS FILLED OUT.
110% BEYOND THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT, ALL I'S DOTTED T'S CROSSED BECAUSE THIS YEAR, AS WE'VE SEEN AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WILL BE LOOKED AT THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT PAPERWORK TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S FILLED OUT 100% IN TOTALITY AND CORRECTIVES.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO RECEIVE ANY TYPE FUNDS IF THE STAFFORD ACT OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS ARE PUT INTO PLAY.
SO I WOULD DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE ALL OF OUR PARTNERS TO DO THAT.
UM, ONE THING THAT I WILL, UH, KIND OF PIGGYBACK OFF AS WELL IS CONSISTENT INFORMATION THAT GOES OUT THROUGH THE, THE PUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT CHANNELS.
MAKE SURE WE ARE ALL PUSHING THOSE OUT THROUGH OUR JIGS AND WE'RE, WE'RE DOING, UH, THOSE THINGS.
AND THEN I KNOW A LOT OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS HAVE MULTIPLE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THROUGHOUT OUR DIFFERENT AGENCIES.
UH, AGAIN, IT'S PARAMOUNT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUSHING THOSE SAME STREAMLINED INFORMATION OUT.
THAT WAY EVERYBODY'S GETTING IT CONSISTENT FROM PUBLIC WORKS TO PARKS AND RECTIFIER TO POLICE OR WHATEVER IT IS, BECAUSE, UH, THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR FOR THAT.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY FOLKS IN YOUR MEDIA REALMS THAT ARE KINDA WHATEVER THEIR DUTIES ARE, HAVE THEM KIND OF SCOURING THE, THE, THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS, WHENEVER THEY'RE NOT PUSHING OUT INFORMATION TO MAKE SURE THAT IF THEY SEE ANY OTHER TYPES OF INFORMATION THAT IS NOT CREDIBLE, THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO, UH, MAYBE MESSAGE THOSE INDIVIDUAL GROUPS OR BRING IT TO SOME ATTENTION TO KNOW THAT, UH, THOSE, UH, INFORMATION
[00:30:01]
IS NOT THERE.UM, BOTH FOR GOVERNMENT ENTITIES AS WELL AS OUR PRIVATE, UH, FOLKS RIGHT NOW, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE SURE THAT WE TAKE PICTURES AND DOCUMENT EVERYTHING FOR RISK MANAGEMENT AND, AND ASSESSMENTS OF ALL OUR PUBLIC ASSETS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THOSE, UM, EVERYTHING IS EVER CHANGING AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE EVERYTHING, UM, UP TO SPEED ON THAT.
UM, ONE THING THAT I WILL TELL YOU IS IN A RECENT HURRICANE EXPO THAT WE JUST DID, WE MET WITH SOME FOLKS FROM FEMA AND OTHER COLLEGIATE, UH, PLACES, AND THEY WERE DOING SOME PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS AND RISK ANALYSIS ON DIFFERENT AREAS THROUGHOUT THE NATION AS FAR AS, UH, THE LIKELIHOOD OF BEING IMPACTED FOR HURRICANES AND THOSE TYPE OF WEATHER EVENTS FOR THIS CALENDAR YEAR, NUMBER ONE RANKING OUT OF THE WHOLE NATION THAT THE INFORMATION THAT WAS GIVEN TO US WAS BEAUFORT COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA, JASPER COUNTY WAS NUMBER 12, AND, AND SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS IN COLLETON COUNTY WAS NUMBER FIVE.
AND THEN THE OTHERS ARE IN MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, AND PLACES LIKE THAT.
SO WE HAVE THE PROBABILITY OF, OF HAVING INCLEMENT WEATHER THIS YEAR.
WILL WE BE NUMBER ONE? WE DON'T KNOW.
BUT THERE IS A, THERE'S A HIGH PROBABILITY THAT WE WILL.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING THAT I WILL, UH, KIND OF CLOSE OUT WITH IS, OR TWO THINGS, LET'S CHECK ON OUR NEIGHBORS IN THOSE RURAL AREAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE GETTING THE MESSAGING THAT THEY SHOULD, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE ARE DETACHED FROM ALL THE OTHER THINGS AS FAR AS SOCIAL MEDIA.
THEY MAY NOT HAVE SOME OF THE, THE UP TO SPEED ELECTRONICS AND THINGS.
AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THE MESSAGE OUT TO THEM, HOPEFULLY THAT WE CAN ENCOURAGE OUR CITIZENS TO MAKE CONTACT WITH OUR NEIGHBORS.
UM, IT'S EASIER FOR US AS THE PUBLIC WHEN THE GOVERNOR DECLARES AN EVACUATION TO TELL FOLKS TO LEAVE.
I KNOW THAT THE, THE PART WITH LEAVING IS THE HARD PART.
ONCE YOU GET TO WHERE YOU'RE GOING IS GREAT, BUT IT MAKES OUR JOBS EASIER IF FOLKS ARE, UH, HAVE LEFT THE AREA TO BE ABLE TO DO OUR JOBS AND DO IT MORE EFFICIENTLY AND SAFELY.
UM, I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT I'VE PERSONALLY NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVACUATE.
I GREW UP IN COMMERCIAL FISHING.
WE HAD TO STAY BACK AND MAKE SURE WE, WE GUARD THE BOATS AND DIFFERENT THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND THEN GOING INTO PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, WE'VE, NOW I'VE NEVER BEEN, UH, KIND OF, I CAN'T SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE ON HOW TO EVACUATE, BUT I DO KNOW THAT IT IS PARAMOUNT THAT YOU DO EVACUATE AND ENCOURAGE YOUR CITIZENS TO DO SO.
UM, OTHER THAN THAT, I THINK I'VE, I'VE TOUCHED ON EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE ALL NEEDED TO TOUCH ON IN HERE AND I GUESS WE CAN OPEN IT UP FOR THE Q AND A MAYOR.
THANK YOU CHIEF, UM, FOR ALL OUR SPEAKERS, I THINK IT REALLY TOOK A, A DIFFERENT TACT, UH, OF GIVING US INFORMATION AND YOU ALL WERE EXCELLENT.
SO I WANT TO THANK THE THREE OF YOU FOR DOING A WONDERFUL JOB TODAY.
UM, NOW I'LL OPEN IT UP FIRST TO THE BOARD.
ANYONE FROM THE BOARD HAVE A QUESTION FOR ANY, ANYONE, ONE OF OUR SPEAKERS, MR. HAMILTON EVACUATION PLAN.
WE DIDN'T HEAR HOW WE GOING TO GET, HOW WE GOING TO MANAGE WHO LEAVES WHEN WE LEAVE AND HOW WE LEAVE.
COULD I ASK THE, THE THREE SPEAKERS TO COME BACK UP TO THE PODIUM? JUDGE CHIEF RY SAID THAT, UH, BUFORT COUNTY IS NUMBER ONE, AND I KNEW THAT.
I TRY NOT TO EVEN DWELL ON THAT THOUGHT.
THE GOVERNOR GIVES THE ORDER THAT WILL BE DISSEMINATED DOWN THROUGH ALL OF THE POSSIBLE WAYS TO, TO GET THE WORD OUT TO THE PUBLIC LAW ENFORCEMENT WHEN WE KNOW AHEAD OF TIME, UH, WE'LL WE'VE GOT A PRETTY GOOD TIMELINE ON HOW THINGS HAPPEN.
NATIONAL GUARD, STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES AND OUR RESOURCES WILL ALL BE POOLED.
THEY'LL BE DEPLOYED AHEAD OF THE ORDER FROM THE GOVERNOR.
WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED AMOUNT OF, UH, ASPHALT TO USE.
UH, IF ANY OF YOU JUST MOVED TO BEAUFORT COUNTY YESTERDAY, YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE HIGHWAY 21 IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY AND WE HAVE 2 78 TO SOUTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
AND THAT'S THE ONLY THREE WAYS TO GET OUTTA THE COUNTY.
AND SO IT TAKES A LITTLE OVER 300 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS PER SHIFT TO, UH, STAFF.
ALL THE TRAFFIC CONTROL POINTS THAT WE WOULD DO IN A MANDATORY EVACUATION.
WE HAVE WORKED WITH THE STATE, UH, HURRICANE FLOYD IN 1999 WAS A TRAFFIC DISASTER.
WE SPENT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF TIME AND EFFORT AFTER THAT, CREATING SEVEN PARALLEL ROUTES ACROSS THE STATE THAT LEAVE THE BEACHES.
UH, AND THEY ALL END UP AT INTERSTATE 20 MYRTLE BEACH'S
[00:35:01]
ROUTES END UP AT 20 IN FLORENCE.CHARLESTON'S ROUTES END UP AT 20 AND COLUMBIA AND BEAUFORT ROUTES END UP AT 20 IN AIKEN, NORTH AUGUSTA AREA.
AND SO THE ROUTES DON'T CROSS ANYWHERE.
SO WE DON'T CREATE ANY CHECKPOINTS ON ANY CHOKE POINTS ALL THE WAY TO I 20.
AND THERE'S, UH, IF YOU, IF YOU HAVEN'T DRIVEN TO AIKEN AUGUSTA OUT ALONG HIGHWAY THREE, I SUGGEST TAKE A SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND DO IT.
THERE ARE NINE MILES OF ROAD ALONG THE EVACUATION ROUTE THAT THERE ARE NOT EVEN POWER POLES, MUCH LESS CELLULAR SIGNALS OR ANYTHING ELSE.
THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE BUT PINE TREES.
AND THEN, UH, ONCE YOU GET TO THERE, YOU CAN GO DIVERGE ANY DIRECTION YOU WANT TO.
ON I 20 OR GO WEST, ALL OF THE KEY INTERSECTIONS ALL THE WAY OUT ARE STAFFED BY STATE AND LOCAL RESOURCES ALL THE WAY OUT.
THE WORD IS DISSEMINATED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AND THEN WE'RE JUST SENDING 'EM AS CHIEF.
UH, ROUTE SAID A MINUTE AGO, EVERYTHING THAT BEAUFORT COUNTY SENDS SOUTH OF THE BROAD RIVER, UH, 75% OF IT IS GOING THROUGH THE TOWN OF HARDY.
THERE'S PLENTY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT THERE TO, TO BLEED IT OFF.
SOME GOES ON 9 95, SOME STAYS ON 2 78 AND GOES UP AND COMBINES WITH HIGHWAY 68, UH, IN ALAMEDA, UH, JUST OUTSIDE OF WARRENVILLE.
AND THEY COMBINE WITH THE NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY TRAFFIC.
AND THEN WE, UH, REVERSE LANE INTO THE TOWN OF HAMPTON WHERE WE GET BACK TO MULTI LANES AND THEN WE SPLIT IT AGAIN, UH, THERE AT THE MCDONALD'S IN, IN WEST HAMPTON.
AND I MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S A LOT BIGGER THAN IT IS WEST HAMPTON, RIGHT? UH, BUT THAT'S HOW WE WILL GET OUT OF HERE, SIR.
THAT'S WHY WE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE.
IF YOU SEE THE STORM COMING, YOU SEE THE THREAT COMING, YOU SEE CANTOR AND THAT BUNCH ON THE WEATHER ENTERTAINMENT CHANNEL GETTING EXCITED, THEN IT'S TIME.
IF YOU'VE GOT THE WHEREWITHAL TO LEAVE, IT'S TIME.
WHETHER YOU GO TO THE SHELTER IN JASPER OR YOU GO TO VISIT FA FRIENDS AND FAMILY FURTHER OUT, OR YOU GO TO A HOTEL IN ATLANTA OR NASHVILLE OR SOMETHING, THE EARLIER YOU GET OUT, THE LESS OPPOR THE LESS OPPORTUNITY YOU HAVE TO GET STUCK IN A TRAFFIC JAM.
AND SO, BECAUSE WE, BUT WE HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF ASPHALT.
GOVERNOR HALEY ASKED ME SOME YEARS AGO, IF I HAD MY DRUTHERS, WHAT WAS THE ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE? AND I SET A FOUR LANE HIGHWAY ALL THE WAY TO AUGUSTA.
IT DOESN'T EXIST AND IT'LL NEVER BE BUILT, UH, AT LEAST NOT IN MY LIFETIME.
AND SO WITHOUT THAT, WE'RE USING THE PARALLEL ROUTES.
IF YOU WAIT TO THE MANDATORY ORDER, YOU'RE GONNA GO WHERE LAW ENFORCEMENT TELLS YOU IF YOU LEAVE EARLY, YOU'RE GONNA GO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.
ANYTHING TO ADD TO THAT? WELL, AND THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING IS, AND UM, ACTUALLY FOR THE EXPO, DEPUTY CHIEF RA HAD A WONDERFUL PICTURE UP OF, OF, UH, WHAT STORM WAS THAT? MATTHEW.
HURRICANE MATTHEW WAS PARKED OFF OF OUR COAST.
IT WAS A A GOES WEATHER SATELLITE IMAGE.
AND THE SIZE OF THAT STORM WENT FROM FLORIDA TO NORTH CAROLINA.
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR EVACUATION TIMELINES, MOST OF THOSE STORMS ARE GOING TO APPROACH FLORIDA.
WHO GETS THE MANDATORY EVACUATION FIRST? FLORIDA.
RIGHT? SO WHEN YOU START LOOKING AT THOSE, THOSE PROCESSES, A, WE'RE ALREADY A COUPLE OF DAYS BEHIND IT.
AND SO THOSE CITIZENS ARE ALREADY GETTING INTO THE ATLANTA AND COLUMBIA.
THEY'RE ALREADY, THEY'RE ALREADY COMING TO US.
AND SO BY THE TIME THAT STORM MAKES THE TURN AND OUR, OUR MANDATORY EVACUATION ORDERS ARE HITTING, YOU MAY VERY WELL FIND YOURSELF GETTING THE FIRST AVAILABLE HOTEL ROOM IN CHATTANOOGA OR EVEN FURTHER.
BUT THOSE ARE THE, THOSE ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE HERE.
AND, UM, AGAIN, OUR, OUR TRAFFIC GOES TO AIKEN.
UM, AND LIKE HE INDICATED, UM, I WAS PART OF THE, THE 1999 HURRICANE EVACUATION FOR FLOYD.
UM, I HAD TO DO, UM, EMERGENCY TRANSFERS FROM HOSPITALS WORKING EMS, UM, A DRIVE THAT NORMALLY WOULD TAKE TWO HOURS, UM, TOOK 12 AND THAT WAS AMBULANCES, LIGHTS, SIREN, CREATIVITY AT ITS FINEST JUST TO GET THERE.
THERE WERE FOLKS THAT JUST NEVER EVEN MADE IT IN THAT TWO HOUR DRIVE.
OKAY? SO IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE EARLY, PLEASE, WE ENCOURAGE YOU LEAVE EARLY.
OH, SORRY FRED, I YELLING AT YOU
BUT PLANS SEEM LIKE IT'S THE SAME AS IT WAS.
AND, AND, AND WHAT IT WAS, WAS A DISASTER THE SAME AS IT WAS WHEN THE LAST TIME WE HAD TO EVACUATE, THAT WOULD BE 2016, RIGHT? THE PLAN, THE EVACUATION PLAN, UH, IS THE SAME, SIR.
THE, WE, WE HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF ROUTES.
UM, AND WE'VE DONE ALL WE CAN DO WITH 'EM.
WE ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO LEAVE EARLY.
[00:40:01]
EVACUATIONS, UH, BY ZIP CODE THAT FAILED BECAUSE NOBODY LISTENED TO US.THEN, UH, WE SAID, YOU KNOW, ZIP CODE, UH, 2 9 9 2 6 LEAVES FIRST AND 2 9, 9 2 7 WILL LEAVE FOUR HOURS LATER.
THEY ALL LEFT AT THE SAME TIME.
UH, SO WE JUST, WE HAVE STAFFED WITH THE ADEQUATE NUMBER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
WE HAVE THE PARALLEL ROUTES, UH, AND WE'VE USED EVERYTHING WE'VE DONE AVAILABLE TO US AND, AND THE POPULATION.
UM, Y'ALL MIGHT NOT BE AWARE, UH,
UH, HARDY IS FLOATING DOWN AND ALL OF THESE FOLKS ARE, ARE BUILDING HOUSES AND BUILDING APARTMENT BUILDINGS.
ALL THERE'S BEING PUT ON THE SAME ROUTE.
AND WE'RE ALL, WE'RE AT A POINT NOW WHERE OUR TIMELINE TO EVACUATE ROUGHLY 80% OF THE POPULATION SHOULD IT CHOOSE TO EVACUATE, TAKES ROUGHLY 30 HOURS.
WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T EXTEND IT ANY LONGER.
WE TO, TO ASK PEOPLE TO LEAVE 48, 50, 60 HOURS IN ADVANCE.
SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE HEAVY TRAFFIC.
UM, AND THERE'S JUST SIMPLY, UM, THERE'S SIMPLY NO WAY TO STOP THAT UNLESS PEOPLE STOP MOVING HERE AND THEN START MOVING AWAY, ACTUALLY, UM, TO KIND OF BRING THAT DOWN.
'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE, WE, WE HAVE THE SAME RIGHT.
PLAN IS THE SAME AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS THE SAME THAT IT WAS IN 1980 AND NOTHING, NOTHING'S CHANGED.
WE'VE JUST ADDED MORE RESOURCES.
AND ANOTHER COMPONENT TO KEEP IN MIND WITH THE EVACUATIONS, UM, THAT WE REALLY HAVEN'T TOUCHED ON YET, IS FUEL AND ELECTRICITY.
IF YOU'VE GOT, EVERYBODY'S COMPETING FOR THE SAME GAS STATIONS TO FUEL THEIR VEHICLES, AND IF YOU HAVE AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE TO TRY TO GET OUT ON THE ROUTES HERE, WE REALLY DON'T, IN THE RURAL AREAS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, THERE'S NO INFRASTRUCTURE FOR EV CHARGING STATIONS OF THAT MAGNITUDE TO BE ABLE TO, UH, CHARGE VEHICLES.
SO, UH, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIGURE OUT ALTERNATIVE, UH, THINGS TO DO FOR FUEL BECAUSE AGAIN, EVERYBODY'S COMPETING FOR THE SAME FUEL STATIONS AS WELL AS THE SAME HOOKUPS FOR EVS.
AND ON TOP OF THAT, UM, COLONIAL PIPE, UH, WHICH IS IN THE CHAR CHARLOTTE AREA, UM, A LOT OF THAT IS WHERE OUR LOCAL MARKETS GET THEIR FUEL.
SO IF WE HAVE CONTRAFLOW GOING AWAY WHEN THE GAS STATIONS ARE DONE, WE CAN'T GET THE FUEL IN.
IF WE CAN GET IT IN THAT, THAT TRACTOR TRAILER, THAT DELIVERY TRUCK IS SITTING IN THE SAME TRAFFIC TO TRY AND GET BACK TO RELOAD TO GET BACK.
AND SO WE START TO SEE THAT THAT CHALLENGE EMERGE.
MAYOR TO, I I JUST HAVE, UH, ONE COMMENT, UH, WENT OVER TO ST.
NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY'S GROWING TWO.
NOT JUST BLUFFTON, NOT JUST HARDY VI SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES AND IT, IT'S HARD TO TELL WHEN YOU'RE IN BLUFFTON OR NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
SO WHEN IT ADDS, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE NOW COMPARED TO WHAT WE HAD BACK THEN, IT'S, IT'S COUNTYWIDE.
IT'S NOT JUST, UM, I JUST HAD A QUESTION, NEIL, WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE THRESHOLD, THE MILLION DOLLAR THRESHOLD FOR FEMA, DOES THAT, BASICALLY, I THINK WHAT YOU SAID IS WE HAVE TO HAVE A MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF DAMAGE BEFORE WE CAN SEND IT TO THE GOVERNOR.
THAT'S ESTIMATED DAMAGE, RIGHT? THAT'S PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO WHAT HAPPENS IS OUR, UM, OUR DAMAGED ASSESSMENT FOLKS WILL GO OUT AND THEY'LL HAVE THEIR IPADS I WAS GONNA PULL OFF.
AND THEY'LL TAKE A PICTURE OF A BUILDING AND THEY'RE TRAINED IN ASSESSING THE VALUE OF A BUILDING.
AND THEY'LL SAY, OKAY, WE'VE GOT 80,000 DAMAGES BUILDING AND THEY'LL LOG IT INTO THE PROGRAM.
IT MAY NOT BE ACCURATE, IT'LL PROBABLY BE ON THE LOW SIDE, BUT AS LONG AS WE REACH THAT LEGITIMATE ESTIMATE OF
MY, MY QUESTION IS PERTAINING TO STATE, I MEAN TO COUNTY OWNED ROADWAYS, SAY SMALL BRIDGES, CAUSEWAYS, IS THAT IN, IN, DOES THAT QUALIFY TO MEET THAT MILLION DOLLAR THRESHOLD? ABSOLUTELY.
I, I'LL DURING DEBBIE LAST YEAR, THE ONLY WAY THAT WE REACHED THE THRESHOLD, AND I THINK THE STONE, CORRECT ME IF NEED BE, WAS THE SAND EROSION ON THE BEACH.
AND IT MET LAST YEAR, IT MET NOW I THINK THIS YEAR, I THINK I READ SOMETHING, UH, IN ALL THE STUFF THAT'S COMING.
SAND IS NO LONGER GONNA BE CONSIDERED.
UH, BUT LAST YEAR THAT GOT US OVER THE DEBBIE THRESHOLD.
AND THE REASON I BRING THAT UP IS BECAUSE AS WE STRUGGLE TO GET DEVELOPERS AND MORE ROADS, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WE GOT MORE PEOPLE AND MORE CARS, WE NEED MORE ROADS
[00:45:01]
ALMOST EVERYWHERE, LIKE YOU SAID, UM, A ROAD FROM ME TO YOU, IF IT GOES ACROSS THE WATER, THAT'S A MILLION RIGHT THERE.SO YOU CAN FILL OUT ONE, TAKE ONE PICTURE AND SAY IT VERY WELL, HERE'S OUR THRESHOLD.
IF, IF, IF WE, IF WE LOST THE, IF WE LOST THE BRIDGE, ONE LANE OF THE BRIDGE TO HILTON HEAD, WE'D CHECK THAT BOX AND MOVE ON.
WHAT IS THE REGULATION WE SHOULD TELL PEOPLE ABOUT MOVING EVACUATING WITH BOATS, RVS, TRAILERS? 'CAUSE THAT'S, YOU HAVE DIFFERENT REGULATIONS, DO YOU NOT? THEY HAVE TO GO A CERTAIN TIME.
THAT THEY'RE GONNA CLOG UP THE ROADWAYS TOO.
YOU KNOW, FOLKS, WE, WE ENCOURAGE FOLKS A BOAT CAN BE REPLACED, AN RV CAN BE REPLACED.
AN RV YOU MIGHT WANNA BE, THAT MIGHT BE ONE OF WHAT YOU WANNA TAKE.
'CAUSE THAT MIGHT BE YOUR LIVING SUITE WHERE YOU'RE LIVING FOR WHILE.
UH, BUT YOU KNOW, SOME, IF A FAMILY'S GOT FOUR CARS AND THEY'VE GOT FOUR DRIVERS AND THEY WANNA SAVE A MILE, THAT'S UP TO THEM.
WE'RE NOT, WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR CAPABLE OF POLICING THAT.
YESTERDAY ONE OF YOU SPOKE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS THE SHERIFF OR WHO SAID THAT RVS ON THE ROAD WHEN THE WIND HITS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF, UH, SPEED.
I DON'T KNOW WHO SAID THAT YESTERDAY.
UH, WE WERE TALK THAT GOT KIND OF CONVOLUTED IN THE CONVERSATION.
THE SCHOOL BUSES CANNOT RUN BY STATE STATUTE IN SUSTAINED WINDS OVER 35 MILE AN HOUR.
BUT A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM GENERATING HIGH WINDS, THE SCHOOL BUSES CAN'T RUN.
THE FIRE TRUCKS, UH, CAN PULL OFF THE ROAD.
THEY CAN STAY A LITTLE LONGER 'CAUSE IT'S COTTON PICKING HEAVY.
BUT OUR PATROL CARS COME OFF THE ROAD AT 39 MILE PER HOUR SUSTAINED.
AND SO IT BECOMES, WE'RE NOT GONNA TELL AN RV DRIVER, HEY, DON'T CROSS THAT BRIDGE WINDS ARE BLOWING 45 MILE AN HOUR.
BUT WE'VE ALL SEEN THE VIDEO OF THE TRACTOR TRAILERS OUT WEST BEING BLOWN OVER.
SAME THING'S GONNA HAPPEN ON THAT BRIDGE.
IF HE WAIT, IF THAT RV OWNER WAITS THAT LONG AND HE STARTS ACROSS THAT BRIDGE AND A WIND GUST OF 40 MILE HOUR HITS THAT RV AND IT FLIPS HIM, IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A, UH, SELF-CORRECTING PROBLEM THERE.
UH, BUT, UH, WE DON'T HAVE ANY REGULATIONS TO SAY, SORRY, WE CAN'T LET YOU DO THAT.
AND WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE DON'T, IF YOU'RE GONNA DO THAT, YOU GOTTA GO BEFORE THE WINDS START BLOWING.
UM, WHEN WE ACHIEVE 40 MILES AN HOUR SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS, IT BECOMES TOO UNSAFE FOR US TO RESPOND TO CALLS.
AND, UM, AND WE WILL, WE WILL TALK ABOUT MATTHEW.
UM, THERE WERE FOLKS THAT, UH, WERE WERE DETERMINED TO GET TO DISNEY WORLD IN THE MIDST OF MATTHEW WRATH.
AND THEY WERE, THEY, THEY, THEY FOUND THEMSELVES IN A PICKLE AND IT WAS, SORRY, YOU'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO WAIT.
AND, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS OF, IT'S, IT'S A CHALLENGE 'CAUSE THE INTERSTATE CANNOT BE SHUT DOWN.
ANYONE ELSE ON THE BOARD? VALERIE? UM, ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO REVERSE 2 78 AND AT WHAT POINT WILL THAT DECISION BE MADE TO REVERSE THE LANES? ON 2 78, WE DO HAVE A REVERSAL PLAN FROM SPANISH WELLS TO MOSS CREEK.
UH, WHEN WE EXPANDED 2 78 TO THREE LANES EACH DIRECTION, IT NEGATED A NEED TO REVERSE THE, THE EASTBOUND SIDE BECAUSE WHERE WOULD WE PUT 'EM WHEN WE GET TO MC GARVEY'S? UH, THAT'S THE OVERPASS.
I THINK NOW IT'S CALLED OKA T OR SOMETHING
BUT, UH, THERE USED TO BE A STORE THERE WHEN IT'S A T INTERSECT.
IT WAS OWNED BY A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF MC GARVEY'S MAYOR REMEMBERS IT A LONG TIME AGO.
SO THAT'S THE OLD TIMERS CALL IT MC GARVEY'S.
WHEN WE GET THERE, IT DROPS TO TWO LANES AND WE, AND THEN WHEN IT GETS TO HARDY VALVE, WE CLOSE DOWN AGAIN.
SO WE DECIDED, UH, THROUGH RUNNING EXERCISES AND COMPUTER MODELING, IT WAS NOT GONNA DO US ANY GOOD TO REVERSE ANY FURTHER WEST FROM MOSS CREEK.
WE'VE GOT THREE LANES GOING IN ONE DIRECTION AND THAT WE, IT WOULDN'T DO US ANY GOOD TO PUT ANYTHING ON THE WRONG SIDE.
AND AS RUSTY JUST SAID, UH, WE NEED TO BE MOVING EMERGENCY RESOURCES, THEY'VE GOTTA HAVE SOME FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT.
UM, AND SO WE KEEP THAT SIDE IN THE ONE LANE COMING BACK ON TO HILTON HEAD, UH, FOR MOVING EMERGENCY RESOURCES BACK AND FORTH AS NEED BE.
THERE'S ALSO A PLAN TO REVERSE HIGHWAY 21 AS FAR OUT AS GARDEN'S CORNER.
AND THEN AGAIN, IT DIVERSIFIES, UH, DIVERGES IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS AND IT DOESN'T DO US ANY GOOD TO PUT STUFF ON THE WRONG SIDE.
UH, WHAT MS. HOWARD ABOUT HOW MANY HOURS OUT DO YOU REVERSE THE LANES ON 21? IT WILL DEPEND ON THE INTENSITY OF THE STORM.
[00:50:01]
THAT WE CAN HANDLE IT WITHOUT REVERSING WE, BECAUSE THE REVERSAL TAKES A WHOLE LOT MORE RESOURCES THAN THAN NORMAL FLOW DOES, UM, WE HAVE TO LAY CONES.WE HAVE TO BRING IN DOT PERSONNEL.
THEY COME FROM AS FAR AWAY AS GREENWOOD TO IMPLEMENT THAT PLAN.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE STORM A WEEK OUT AND THE EXPERTS AT THE WEATHER SERVICE ARE RUNNING ALL THE MODELS.
AND IF THEY THINK IT'S GOING TO REMAIN AT A CAT FOUR, CAT FIVE, THEN WE'LL REVERSE IT.
IF WE FEEL LIKE, UH, AND, AND WE BEING THE EXPERTS AND WE JUST LISTEN TO 'EM AT BEAUFORT COUNTY, IF THEY FEEL LIKE IT WILL DIMINISH ENOUGH, WE'LL KEEP EVERYTHING ON THE RIGHT SIDE, ON THE PROPER SIDE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO EXPEND THOSE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.
ANYONE ELSE FROM THE BOARD? SEEING NONE.
ANYONE FROM THE PUBLIC HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? GOOD MORNING.
TWO QUESTIONS JUST TO HELP EDUCATE RESIDENTS.
UM, IS THERE A PLACE WE CAN GO TO ONLINE? IT SHOWS, I THINK I'M GOING WITH FRED'S QUESTION.
IT SHOWS THE ROUTES THEY WOULD TAKE AN EVACUATION, SO I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE THAT IS.
SO THAT, CAN I REPEAT MY QUESTION SO I DON'T GET SURE.
THE SECOND IS WITH, I THINK FLORIDA IS A GREAT NEIGHBOR TO STUDY, AND I WONDER, Y'ALL AS A GROUP HAVE LOOKED AT HOW FLORIDA EVACUATES, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, REENTERS, I'VE FOLLOWED THEM FOR YEARS AND I DON'T HEAR THE CRITICISM THAT WE ALWAYS GET.
SO DO WE EVER GO TO SOMEWHERE LIKE THAT AND SEE HOW WE, WE COPY AND NOT READ? OKAY, SO THE INFORMATION THAT YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HURRICANE SC, THAT IS THE, UH, THE STATE HURRICANE GUIDE ACTUALLY HAVE SOME, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO TAKE SOME WITH YOU.
WE'VE GOT 'EM IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
THE OTHER APP IS FIVE 11 SC ORG.
UH, THAT'S THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THEIR DROPDOWN MENU, THEY'LL ACTUALLY HAVE HURRICANE ROUTES.
YOU CAN ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD AN APP FOR THEM AS WELL, AND THAT WILL HELP YOU WITH YOUR EVACUATION PLANNING GUIDES.
SO, UH, TWO RESOURCES THERE FROM FLORIDA'S PERSPECTIVE, UM, THEY'RE A NICE PENINSULA.
THEY HAVE WONDERFUL, UH, INTERSTATE INFRASTRUCTURE.
THEY'VE GOT 95 DROPPING IN ON THE EAST SIDE, 75 ON THE WEST SIDE.
UM, YOU'VE GOT I FOUR TRANS, UH, TRANSVERSING CUTTING ACROSS FLORIDA IN THE ORLANDO AREA.
SO, UH, THEY, THEY'VE GOT A VERY ROBUST INFRASTRUCTURE THAT HELPS WITH THAT.
UM, MAYBE WE WILL, WE WILL GAIN THAT TRACTION.
UH, CONSTRUCTION IS STARTING FOR I 95 YING THIS YEAR.
SO HOPEFULLY WE WILL, UH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO IMPROVE THAT.
UH, AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT FALL, UH, GOING STUDYING FLORIDA.
UH, EITHER MYSELF OR A MEMBER OF MY STAFF.
I'VE BEEN GOING TO FLORIDA AFTER HURRICANE SINCE ANDREW IN 92 AND MEETING WITH THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, MEETING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, LEARNING FROM THEM.
UH, OUR REENTRY PROGRAM IS ACTUALLY TAILORED, UH, AFTER THE MONROE COUNTY FLORIDA PLAN.
UH, WE LEARNED HOW THEY DID IT, UH, AND BUILT ON THAT.
AND, UH, SAME THING WE LEARNED.
UH, I WAS IN SOUTH, UH, SOUTH MISSISSIPPI AFTER KATRINA.
I WAS IN GO, UM, BILOXI, UH, FOR, FOR A WEEK AND MET WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE, LEARNED A LOT, AND WE LEARNED THEY WERE DOING THE VERY SAME THING THAT WE'RE DOING NOW WITH THE REENTRY TEARS.
I WENT THERE IN STORM, HIT LATE AUGUST.
I WENT IN OCTOBER, AND THEY STILL HAD ENTIRE COMMUNITIES THAT WERE BARRICADED.
AND IF YOU DID NOT HAVE THE PROPER CREDENTIALS, YOU DIDN'T GET IN.
UH, SO WE MIRRORED OUR PLAN AFTER THOSE, AND YES, MA'AM, WE'VE BEEN TO SOUTH FLORIDA AFTER MICHAEL, AFTER ANDREW, UH, AFTER, UM, ALL OF THEIR STORM.
WE MAKE IT A POINT, WE GIVE 'EM ABOUT SIX MONTHS TO RECOVER, UH, TO BEGIN TO RECOVER.
AND SO THEY, THEY CAN ACTUALLY MEET WITH US AND THEN WE GO DOWN AND WE MEET WITH 'EM AND WE LEARN FROM 'EM.
I THINK WE'VE, UH, RUN OUT OF TIME.
UM, I WOULD ENCOURAGE, UH, AS MY LAST STATEMENT THAT EVERYONE, ALL OF US, EVERY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY, UH, MAKES SURE THAT OUR PUBLIC DOES NOT USE FACEBOOK FOR, UH, REENTRY PLANS,
I, I THINK WE, UH, WE ALL LEARNED SOMETHING FROM WHAT YOU SAID TODAY.
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INVITATION TO COME AND PRESENT, UM, FOR NEXT MONTH.UM, I'M, AS WE DISCUSSED LAST MONTH, I WILL, UH, INVITE OUR SUBCOMMITTEES TO GIVE US AN UPDATE NEXT MONTH, UM, JUST TO HAVE A A LIST.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER, UM, TOPICS THAT THE BOARD WOULD LIKE TO SEE ADDRESSED IN THE COMING MONTHS? ANYTHING SPECIFIC? IF NOT, I'LL BE ASKING THE SUBCOMMITTEES TO, UH, GIVE US AN UPDATE.
I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING, I KNOW THE CHILDCARE FOLKS ARE TRYING TO GET IN FRONT OF ALL THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.
SOME, UH, I WOULD ALSO ASK AS WE DISCUSSED LAST MONTH, TO GET UPDATES FROM EACH OF THE JURISDICTION ON WHAT THEIR FEELINGS ARE OR WHAT THEIR, UH, PROGRESS ARE IN TERMS OF, UM, THAT INITIATIVE.
ANY OTHER LAST COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD? WELL, WE ARE AT 10 56 AND, UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TODAY.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH IN HARDY.
I AM NATALIE HEFTER, AND THIS IS YOUR BUFORT COUNTY MOMENT.
OYSTERS PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR SOCIAL SCHEDULE DURING THE WINTER MONTHS AT OYSTER ROASTS, BUT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THEY'VE BEEN IMPORTANT TO OUR HISTORY HERE.
NATIVE AMERICANS USED THEM FOR FOOD.
WE USED IT FOR PROCESSING INDIGO AND EVEN FOR FERTILIZING FIELDS OF COTTON.
OYSTER FACTORIES WERE USED IN THE BEAUFORT COUNTY AREA ALL THROUGH THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY TO PROCESS OYSTERS AND CAN THEM AROUND TOWN.
YOU CAN SEE EVIDENCE OF TABBY ARCHITECTURE THAT'S MADE FROM OYSTER SHELLS.
BUT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT OYSTERS DO FOR US IS FILTER OUR WATER.
SEVEN GALLONS OF WATER PER OYSTER PER DAY.
THIS IS WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO KEEP OUR WATERWAYS CLEAN OF STORM WATER AS THESE ARE FILTERING ALL THE TIME.
REMEMBER, DON'T RECYCLE THOSE OYSTER SHELLS WHEN YOU FINISH YOUR OYSTER ROAST.
SO WE HAVE NEW PLACES FOR BABY OYSTERS TO GROW.
ENJOY THE SEASON AND THIS HAS BEEN YOUR BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENT.
TO SEE MORE BEAUFORT COUNTY MOMENTS, GO TO THE BEAUFORT COUNTY LIBRARY HOMEPAGE AND CLICK ON THE LOCAL HISTORY TAB.