More than a week after Hurricane Irma barreled through Central Florida, Orange County officials are reviewing their response.
- Orange Co. officials review Irma response
- 311 was contacted 21,000 times
- 21 shelters were opened for evacuees
On Tuesday, department heads briefed Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs on their response to the storm and in most cases, they say, things went rather smoothly.
From communications to emergency responders, there were very few, if any, problems with response to the storm.
3-1-1, the county's emergency information phone number was contacted 21,000 times in the days surrounding the storm. Officials say before the storm, most of the calls were regarding pet friendly shelters and sandbags. More than 120,000 sandbags were handed out in the days before the storm. Twenty-one shelters were opened up with a total population of roughly 4,400 evacuees.
The Orange County Fire Department used reverse 9-1-1, mobile phone alerts and public address systems to warn people to evacuate certain areas. The goal was to let people know they were not alone.
One of the items that was brought up that Jacobs said touched her directly was the death of three people and the hospitalization of several others due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Jacobs said getting that message out to people is something she would like to see done better before the county faces another storm.