Two emergencies at once

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Andrea formed more than three weeks before the official start of hurricane season.

Florida's emergency operations center was in the midst of a long-planned hurricane drill this week, but that drill has been suspended because of two real-life crises.

First, there are more than 200 wildfires burning in 54 of Florida's 67 counties.

Those brushfires are so severe in places that they're affecting travel.

Meanwhile, Andrea continues to swirl off the coast of Florida.

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Bay News 9 meteorologists say Andrea's impact on the Bay area will be limited to bringing a few breezes and a chance for rainfall.

Higher wind and coastal erosion will occur on the east coast. Andrea may also bring more humidity and possibly some rainfall to help battle the fires.

With the two events occuring, the emergency operations center remains fully activated, but the state-wide hurricane drill has been postponed indefinitely.

"One of the phrases we use in emergency management is, 'Real world always takes precedence over drill world,'" said Mike Stone of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. "So we were able to, fortunately, take the team that was in place on an exercise and move them straight into a real-world event."