FEMA chief: Hurricane Matthew still a danger to Fla., Ga., S.C., N.C.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The federal government’s chief emergency responder says he’s worried that people along the East Coast will look at the minimal damage Hurricane Matthew caused in South Florida and assume the storm is not as dangerous as predicted.
“What they saw down in Miami-Dade and Broward and Palm Beach counties is in no way what we’re going to be seeing farther north,” Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Paste BN on Friday. “We’re watching winds already starting to cause structural damage, power lines are down.”
Fugate said northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are all now “under the gun” as Matthew continues its trek just off the Florida coast. And he said the changing geography means a changing response for emergency responders.
Many of the areas next up on Matthew’s march are rural, with farms and smaller towns facing flooding risks that could leave people stranded. Fugate said state emergency personnel accustomed to organizing mass evacuations from barrier islands and big cities must now refocus on rescuing families who may get trapped by floodwater on their farms or in their homes.
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“You’ve got to shift from density of population to area you’ve got to cover,” Fugate said.
The only bright side, Fugate said, was the relative ease of relocating the emergency crews. “Easy. You start on I-95 and head north,” he said.
Fugate said power crews and emergency responders started in Miami and have slowly following the storm. FEMA has also pre-positioned emergency supplies, including food and water, in Orlando, Albany, Ga., and Fort Bragg, N.C., allowing them to respond anywhere along Matthew’s path.
“We have the compass covered to go whatever direction we need to get to,” he said.