Miami-Dade Declares Local State Of Emergency
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has signed a declaration of a local state of emergency due to the threat posed by Hurricane Dorian.
By signing the declaration, Gimenez has freed up the county by waiving "the procedures and formalities otherwise required of the political subdivision by law."
"This allows us to hire contractors as needed and gives my office certain powers such as calling for a curfew if needed. There's no curfew being called at this time, don't worry," Gimenez said a Friday morning briefing.
Gimenez said he was on a conference call earlier in the morning with Florida's emergency management director Jared Moskowitz who offered state resources to help the county prepare.
"Yesterday I also heard from the White House which offered assistance. Likewise, our county stands ready to lend our assistance no matter where the storm lands," he said.
The mayor said depending on the storm's trajectory, they will make a decision about the opening of evacuation centers as needed. He added that the county has the capacity for up to 100-thousand people, but they are not at that stage yet. No evacuation orders have been issued so far.
"At this time, all Miami-dade County services are continuing their normal operations," said Gimenez. "However, now is the time for everyone to be completing all hurricane preparations."
Gimenez also said "We will begin picking up special needs people tomorrow morning and taking them to shelters but we have not ordered evacuations at this point."
Make sure battery-operated radios and flashlights work. Finish putting up shutters if you have them. For those with generators, test them and get fuel for them. Also, top off the gas tank in your car.
In Miami-Dade, visit www.miamidade.gov/oem for more from the Office of Emergency Management.
At that same news conference, the Director of Emergency Management Frank Rollason said the cranes around the county are safe, adding "We know they are up.They will not come down."
CBS4's Peter D'Oench spoke with residents who rent and own condos in downtown Miami and they expressed concerns, particularly after three cranes collapsed during Hurricane Irma in September of 2017—two of them in Miami and one in Fort Lauderdale.
Condo resident Jake Edelstein said, "In the past cranes have fallen here in South Florida because in part there is a lot of building going and you have to be concerned with a hurricane of this size."
A spokesman for Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the city had been very aggressive in terms of crane safety. He said companies have been ordered to secure their cranes before the storm strikes and face hefty fines if they do not do so.
From Chopper 4, we witnessed some flooding in the parking lot of the Haulover Beach Marina. We also saw owners moving boats away from the Prime Marina in Coconut Grove as the storm approaches.
Boat owner Yliana Perez said "We want to keep this boat safe and we are worried about its condition."
Enrique Quintero, the General Manager of Prime Marina, said "Make sure you check weather reports and do not take anything for granted. There are also safety concerns. We have boats illegally moored and essentially what's happening is that it puts our Marina and other marinas at risk because boats are not secured."
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez says the city has taken special steps to curb flooding, adding pumps and contractors to deal with any problems.
"We are monitoring the King Tide which is unfortunately tracking 11 inches above normal," he said.
On Miami Beach, Mayor Dan Gelber cautioned residents, "Nobody should make any assumptions based on projections and assumptions that they are out of harm's way. Nobody should be his own meteorologist. We are hoping for the best and assuming the worst." He also said the city was making sure the drainage systems were "debris free."
City Manager Jimmy Morales said the city would be handing out sand bags for those needing them and said he was concerned about projectiles in a storm. "We have asked residents not to put out anything in the streets and watch out for debris in the streets."
Morales has said on Thursday that the City has 10 pumping stations supported by generators.
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