Some counties better prepared than others for hurricane season
May 29th, 2008 by admin
This year in Monroe County, four school buildings will become pet-friendly hurricane shelters in the event of a Category 1 or 2 hurricane (Keys residents should evacuate to the mainland during stronger hurricanes). Schools make ideal shelters: they are built to withstand hurricanes and they usually are easy-to-locate. In Sunday’s Key West Citizen, the county’s Emergency Management director credited the Monroe County School Board for developing the plan. The new hurricane shelters will be at Key West High School, Sugarloaf School, Stanley Switlik Elementary School and Coral Shores High School.
Please write to the Monroe County School Board and thank them for allowing the schools to be used to protect people and animals during a storm.
Contact:
Steven Pribramsky, Chairman - Steve.Pribramsky@KeysSchools.com
Andy Griffiths - Andy.Griffiths@KeysSchools.com
Dr. R. Duncan Mathewson III, Vice-Chairman - duncan.mathewson@keysschools.com
John Dick - John.Dick@KeysSchools.com
Dr. Debra Walker - Debra.Walker@keysschools.com
Unfortunately, the school board in Palm Beach County has again this year refused to allow school facilities to be used as emergency pet shelters, despite the pleas of Palm Beach County commissioners. In an editorial in Sunday’s paper, the Palm Beach Post expressed their strong support for pet shelters, “Having a place for pets means getting more people to safety. With enough pet shelters, all owners wouldn’t have to decide whether to leave cats and dogs behind.” The county has promised to leave the schools cleaner than before a storm, but the school board is afraid of animal waste and that pet hairs could affect students with allergies. It looks like for the 2008 season, there will only be one shelter in the entire county (West Boynton Rec Center, with a capacity for 300 animals) where humans and their companion animals can stay together during a storm.
Contact the School Board of Palm Beach County and urge them to reconsider their refusal to allow schools to become shelters.
The School Board of Palm Beach County
E-mail: BoardOffice@palmbeach.k12.fl.us
(This e-mail is shared by all seven Board members.)