First responders test skills during hurricane drill

Monday, June 2, 2008

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The hurricane drill will go on until Thursday.

TALLAHASSEE (Bay News 9) -- First responders across the state are testing their skills this week to make sure they're prepared if a hurricane hits Florida.

The drill kicked off Monday morning and will continue through Thursday.

Experts are predicting that the 2008 hurricane season will be normal to slightly above average.

The Florida Emergency Operations Center will be put to the test during a drill that will involve a fake hurricane named Herb that mimics an actual hurricane that hit the Nature Coast in 1896.

The storm that hit in 1896 created a 10-foot storm surge that moved across Crystal River, the Port Richey area and as far south as Pinellas County. If a storm such as that happened now, millions of people would be affected.

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Everyone from National Guard directors to state weather forecasters are manning stations that now have new computers, better communications gear, and there's even a section where they monitor network television for any developments response crews on the ground don't pick up themselves.

After a couple quiet years on the hurricane front, state Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate calls the drill more essential than ever.

"Hurricanes are kind of a rare thing," Fugate said. "It's just when they hit, if you're not ready, it could cost you your life. It could cost you your home -- and a lot of other things that are valuable to you. So again, our challenge is every year, is to remind people is how serious the threat is."

And even in a time of deep state budget cuts, the EOC is getting as much money as it always has. Fugate said state preparedness aid to local counties hasn't been cut either.