Hurricane shelter space shortage in Collier second largest in Florida, report says

Less than a year ago, one of the most ferocious storms in recent memory ripped through Southwest Florida, shredding trailers, flooding homes and triggering the largest evacuation in Collier County’s history. 

Hurricane Irma made landfall on Florida’s west coast as a Category 3 storm Sept. 10, packing peak wind gusts of more than 140 mph, dropping more than 10 inches of rain and drawing storm surges of 4 to 5 feet. 

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The massive storm drained the county’s resources as shelters quickly filled up. Some evacuees had to scramble to find refuge outside Collier County, such as at Germain Arena in Estero. In Collier alone, 17,000 evacuees sheltered at 29 schools, which make up the vast majority of storm shelters.

But if Collier is threatened by an even fiercer storm this hurricane season — a strong Category 4 or even more dangerous Category 5 — the county does not have enough shelter space that fits the state’s minimum criteria as “safe,” “suitable” or “appropriate” to meet the projected demand, state officials estimate.

In a two-decade-long effort to bolster Florida’s public shelter capacity since Hurricane Andrew laid waste to parts of the peninsula in 1992, state leaders have adopted criteria set by the American Red Cross to determine how much adequate shelter space is available in each county to weather the worst storms.

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Collier shelter deficit is second largest in Florida

In Collier, state officials project, about 30,000 people could seek shelter during a Category 4 or 5 storm. But only about  5,800 spaces at Collier shelters fit the state’s minimum criteria.

Statewide, Collier’s deficit is second only to Lee County’s, which lacks about   71,000 spaces, state officials say.

“I know one of the problems in Naples is just that the storm surge goes in so far,” said Rick Schofield, division disaster director for the Southeast and Caribbean for the American Red Cross. “There’s nothing against anybody, against Naples. It’s just the geography.”

As a whole, the Southwest Florida region — which includes Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Sarasota counties — has a deficit of almost 123,000 shelter spaces that meet the state’s criteria. It’s the largest shortfall for any of the 10 regions in the state and a gulf eight times as large as the second-biggest regional deficit.

Charlotte, for example, has no shelters that meet the Red Cross standards.

“The way their storm surge is, there is nothing that truly is a viable option in Charlotte County that would not have some sort of storm inundation,” said Ryan Logan, the Red Cross’ regional disaster officer for South Florida. 

Every two years the state’s Division of Emergency Management releases its statewide emergency shelter plan, outlining which counties and regions have deficits or surpluses to safely shelter the residents who are projected to seek refuge during a major storm. 

The public shelter design criteria set by the Red Cross takes into account a structure’s ability to withstand strong winds and its vulnerability to storm surge, flooding from rainfall, and hazardous materials.

More:With lessons from Irma, Collier County changes hurricane response plans

Storm surge biggest issue for Collier shortage

If a shelter does not meet the Red Cross standards, known as ARC 4496, it does not mean it would topple or collapse. But it means the building may be at a higher risk of structural damage, like broken windows and damaged roofs that could endanger evacuees. It could also mean the shelter is located in an area vulnerable to flooding or storm surge.

“That’s your biggest issue,” said Logan, referring to storm surge. “It’s not the structure of the building. It’s the water is the issue.”

In Collier, the shelters that meet the state’s minimum requirements are all located inland, in Immokalee, according to the report, which was released in January. 

They include Bethune Education Center, Eden Park Elementary, Highlands Elementary School, Immokalee High School, Immokalee Middle School, Lake Trafford Elementary School, Pinecrest Elementary School and Village Oaks Elementary School.

Schofield said a combination of factors may contribute to why relatively few shelters in Collier meet the ARC 4496 standards, including population growth in the area and the location of shelters.

The Red Cross standards the state uses as a minimum requirement do not go as far as other organizations' shelter guidelines, including those published by the International Code Council and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

“We’ve tried to take a midway position of trying to find building facilities that might still be usable even though in a perfect world you wouldn’t use them, because you have sufficient space,” Schofield said.

In 2017:Hurricane Irma: Special-needs shelter evacuees dealt extra blow

Collier official: State shelter report 'antiquated'

The state’s biennial report, along with the Red Cross standard it uses, is a useful planning document, said Dan Summers, director of Collier’s bureau of emergency services, but “doesn’t necessarily say that one building is better than the other in terms of operations.”

“Honestly it’s an antiquated document,” he said, referring to the Red Cross standards. “But it’s all they had when this legislation was passed many, many years ago. And what 4496 has not done is kept up with the changes in the Florida building code.”

Though the current population continues to grow, Summers said, improvements in the state’s building code would allow more people to shelter at home as opposed to evacuating. 

Additionally, residents along the county’s coast often have the means and resources to evacuate on their own instead of seeking refuge at a public shelter, he said. 

“They’ll just go inland, family, friends, well inland,” Summers said.

The reason the only Collier shelters that meet the Red Cross standard are all located in Immokalee is “mostly likely” because they’re relatively far inland, away from potential storm surge, he said.

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Though it’s important to be cautious when it comes to considering storm surge inundation, Summers said, ruling out any potential shelter that shows up on a storm surge map, regardless of a storm’s intensity or track, is an “overly conservative posture.” 

“We’re good enough at forecasting, we know enough about the angle of approach, I’m not going to put county employees in harm’s way, I’m not going to put school district employees in harm’s way,” Summers said. 

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Summers cites advances in storm surge mapping 

The Red Cross standard, he said, has “outlived itself” because of advances in storm surge prediction and mapping.

“The science has gotten better than what 4496 has to offer,” Summers said.

Local emergency leaders have long wanted the state to overhaul its requirements when it comes to the shelter plan, but with long stretches without a major hurricane it was hard to get “any legislative sponsorship,” he said.

“We hope this will get a different look,” Summers said. “But, again, there’s nothing wrong with doing this for planning or benchmark purposes.”

Though Irma stretched the county’s resources and pushed its limits, the storm was a good litmus test for emergency officials, Summers said.

“Irma sort of gave us the maximum of maximums of all of our planning,” he said.

And some of the preparation fell short, county officials have acknowledged. 

Hurricane Irma tested county planning

A consulting firm — hired by the county to assess strengths and weaknesses in its immediate response — found that it took “heroic” efforts from county and school district staff to open additional shelters shortly before Irma arrived because the county planned to shelter only about half the number of people who ultimately would seek refuge.

“We had not done a good job of planning for that level of capacity,” Summers said.

Part of the difficulty was the storm’s wide reach.

“This storm shook a lot of people because of its intensity and its direction,” Summers said. “At the end of the day you had about 37 counties all involved in some form of evacuation. Impacting 37 counties has never been in anybody’s plan.” 

But Collier’s shelters, by and large, survived Irma’s ire.

“Irma was a really, really good building test,” Summers said. “And, you know, to have a handful of minor things is really a testament to good codes at this point, good inspections, good construction.”

Emergency officials in Florida’s counties decide what shelters to open. They almost exclusively lean on school districts to provide the facilities.

The state’s public schools account for about 97 percent of hurricane evacuation shelter space. 

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Collier school shelters stretched by Irma

New schools are required to have enhanced hurricane protection areas, which include walls, roofs and windows able to resist windborne debris impact. Initiatives to retrofit existing buildings have created hundreds of thousands of additional public shelter spaces since the mid-'90s.

In Collier, school district structures are built with long-lasting building materials like concrete block, brick or reinforced concrete with steel rebar and steel columns and beams. Schools are built to withstand the wind loads specified in the state building code at the time they were built.

When Irma marched toward Collier, all the county’s public schools that could be used as shelters were opened. 

In less than 30 hours, 29 schools became public shelters. Twenty schools could not shelter evacuees because they fell within the projected storm surge area. 

“That was a 180% increase of opened shelters from any previous storm,” said Greg Turchetta, a spokesman for the school district, in an email. 

“The facilities and the school district staff that operated our shelters did a remarkable job.”

Still, Irma left some marks. 

The Everglades City School gymnasium’s wood floor had to be replaced and other buildings on the campus needed repairs, Turchetta said. The Lely High School auditorium flooded. Carpets, seats and wet drywall had to be replaced.

With the exception of some minor repairs, most of the Irma-related damage has been repaired, Turchetta said.

The school district has submitted more than 30 projects to federal officials for reimbursement consideration, according to the state’s division of emergency management. No funds have been obligated by FEMA yet, a division spokesman said.

The estimated cost for the projects totals more than $10.7 million. Three of them cost more than $1 million and include repairs to the Everglades school, Barron Collier High School, Lely schools and Lorenzo Walker Technical High School.

But not just post-storm repairs can add up. Meeting the state’s criteria for shelters can be costly, too.

District school boards have been reporting that incorporating the criteria adds about 3 to 9 percent to construction costs, which state officials acknowledge in their report “is not necessarily an insignificant cost” shouldered by state and local agencies.

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Collier planning for 20,000 evacuees, 26 shelters

This hurricane season, which began June 1, Collier’s emergency management leaders plan to use 26 shelters with the option to add a few more on an as-needed basis. 

They are preparing for 20,000 to 22,000 potential evacuees, twice as many as sought shelter during Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Officials typically start filling shelters inland and work their way to the coast.

“We do that to get the largest number of folks out of potentially harm’s way,” Summers said.

The county has stocked up on wheelchairs, special needs cots and medical supplies for its special needs shelter, which once again would be Palmetto Ridge High School. Emergency officials are looking to expand the shelter’s capacity by looking for previously untapped space within the building. 

The shelter could fit up to 600 or 700 people, Summers said. 

But it, too, doesn’t meet the state’s minimum requirement, the report says. If a strong Category 4 or Category 5 storm were to threaten Collier, some 2,000 special needs evacuees could seek shelter, according to state estimates.

Going forward, Summers said, addressing the shelter needs of some coastal counties, like Collier or Lee, could be solved on a regional level.

“It makes sense to me to find opportunities for these inland counties to do host sheltering,” he said. “And the state just hasn’t paid much attention to that. And the rural counties are not going to be able to do it without some state support.”

No new schools are planned in Collier in the immediate future, but examining potential changes to the land development code could mean clubhouses in communities could provide support after a storm, Summers said.

“We try to put our best opinion, best recommendation forward, but it’s always better to do family or friends well inland, and shelter is the last resort,” he said. “And for a lot of people it is, and we understand that.”