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WASHINGTON - Florida officials are urging top federal emergency managers to give the state a break on tougher national standards that would require hurricane shelters to be tornado-proof.
Florida's U.S. senators and House members also are being asked to exert their influence on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Florida historically has never had a need to shelter for the winds associated with a tornado," said John Cherry, a spokesman with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The added costs of meeting the new FEMA guidelines, state officials say, already threaten the current construction or planning of at least seven hurricane shelters in six Florida counties - including one in Hillsborough County and two in Pasco County - as hurricane season approaches.
The Brandon Community Advantage Center in Hillsborough County was to house one of the planned emergency evacuation shelters, with ground scheduled to be broken in May or June.
Brandon Shelter In Doubt
A decision on whether to proceed with including a shelter in the plans for the new community civic hub or to scrap the shelter component is now up in the air.
"There's a big dollar gap between these new FEMA standards we've got to fill and what we were funding on originally, a gap of $1 million," said Miller Dowdy, chairman of the center's executive board of directors.
The shelter component of the community center was going to cost $1.4 million, but under the new federal standards would cost $2.5 million, he said.
"What makes this even more aggravating is that we just found out about these new standards 30 days ago and we've been working on the project for a year," Dowdy said.
Dowdy said he and other planners of the project were hoping to help fill an important need for a locally accessible emergency shelter, "because right now the closest shelter for us in eastern Hillsborough County is the Sun Dome, and that is not very practical."
Unless the state is able to get some type of waiver from FEMA on the new standards, he said, it is unlikely the shelter will be built.
Other shelters facing some of the same questions, according to the state, are at Wesley Chapel and the Pasco Regional Shelter in Pasco County, and in St. Lucie, Gulf, Duval and Highlands counties.
Until now, the state has been using American Red Cross guidelines for hurricane shelters, which require buildings to at the minimum withstand wind speeds reaching between 100 mph and 150 mph.
To help make their case for a state waiver from the new FEMA guidelines, the state Division of Emergency Management has put together a "white paper" laying out why enforcement of the new design rules "could seriously endanger the ability of the state to reduce its public hurricane shelter deficit."
Those arguments were laid out this week in a face-to-face meeting between the division's director, W. Craig Fugate, and FEMA Director David Paulison, himself from South Florida.
"We're looking for either a waiver or a middle ground on the specification," said Cherry, who described the discussions with Paulison as "positive and ongoing toward a resolution to this issue."
Responded FEMA spokesman James McIntyre: "There have been discussions and FEMA will continue to talk to the state about this issue."
State Questions Risks
The state's "white paper" asserts that requiring Florida to meet the new standard is not necessary because the state does not get tornadoes reaching the 200 mph intensity the new guideline is designed to address.
In fact, only two tornado events in Florida since 1950 are thought to have ever reached that level, the paper asserts.
Also, statistics compiled by the National Weather Service show that of the 204 deaths and 1,918 injuries between 1882 and 2007 resulting from tornadoes in Florida, none was thought to have happened inside a public hurricane evacuation shelter.
The state also points out that "a large majority of strong tornados that have caused fatalities in the state occurred during the months of February, March and April. That is outside of the June to through November hurricane season when residents and visitors are sheltered for land-falling hurricanes."
Furthermore, by requiring the stiffer new FEMA design criteria in Florida, state officials warn, "inadequate funding" is available for the seven shelters now being planned or constructed that would provide 4,432 new shelter spaces.
State Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, the majority whip, this week wrote to all of Florida's members of Congress urging that the rule be reconsidered.
"Because of this, shelters that are in the process of being constructed have to stop and restart the planning process, causing an extra unexpected cost of millions of dollars to our taxpayers," he wrote.
The fiscal impact of new rule "just causes too much of a burden, especially in a year as this, where Florida is enduring an economic slow down," Fasano added.
"I hope that our congressmen and congresswoman are able to convince FEMA that Florida doesn't need to meet these standards," said Fasano in an interview.
The offices of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, who is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security that oversees FEMA, said they are already working on the matter.
"We've been talking with the governor's office and helping any way we can," said Dan McLaughlin, a Nelson spokesman.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@mediageneral.com.
Florida's U.S. senators and House members also are being asked to exert their influence on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Florida historically has never had a need to shelter for the winds associated with a tornado," said John Cherry, a spokesman with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The added costs of meeting the new FEMA guidelines, state officials say, already threaten the current construction or planning of at least seven hurricane shelters in six Florida counties - including one in Hillsborough County and two in Pasco County - as hurricane season approaches.
The Brandon Community Advantage Center in Hillsborough County was to house one of the planned emergency evacuation shelters, with ground scheduled to be broken in May or June.
Brandon Shelter In Doubt
A decision on whether to proceed with including a shelter in the plans for the new community civic hub or to scrap the shelter component is now up in the air.
"There's a big dollar gap between these new FEMA standards we've got to fill and what we were funding on originally, a gap of $1 million," said Miller Dowdy, chairman of the center's executive board of directors.
The shelter component of the community center was going to cost $1.4 million, but under the new federal standards would cost $2.5 million, he said.
"What makes this even more aggravating is that we just found out about these new standards 30 days ago and we've been working on the project for a year," Dowdy said.
Dowdy said he and other planners of the project were hoping to help fill an important need for a locally accessible emergency shelter, "because right now the closest shelter for us in eastern Hillsborough County is the Sun Dome, and that is not very practical."
Unless the state is able to get some type of waiver from FEMA on the new standards, he said, it is unlikely the shelter will be built.
Other shelters facing some of the same questions, according to the state, are at Wesley Chapel and the Pasco Regional Shelter in Pasco County, and in St. Lucie, Gulf, Duval and Highlands counties.
Until now, the state has been using American Red Cross guidelines for hurricane shelters, which require buildings to at the minimum withstand wind speeds reaching between 100 mph and 150 mph.
To help make their case for a state waiver from the new FEMA guidelines, the state Division of Emergency Management has put together a "white paper" laying out why enforcement of the new design rules "could seriously endanger the ability of the state to reduce its public hurricane shelter deficit."
Those arguments were laid out this week in a face-to-face meeting between the division's director, W. Craig Fugate, and FEMA Director David Paulison, himself from South Florida.
"We're looking for either a waiver or a middle ground on the specification," said Cherry, who described the discussions with Paulison as "positive and ongoing toward a resolution to this issue."
Responded FEMA spokesman James McIntyre: "There have been discussions and FEMA will continue to talk to the state about this issue."
State Questions Risks
The state's "white paper" asserts that requiring Florida to meet the new standard is not necessary because the state does not get tornadoes reaching the 200 mph intensity the new guideline is designed to address.
In fact, only two tornado events in Florida since 1950 are thought to have ever reached that level, the paper asserts.
Also, statistics compiled by the National Weather Service show that of the 204 deaths and 1,918 injuries between 1882 and 2007 resulting from tornadoes in Florida, none was thought to have happened inside a public hurricane evacuation shelter.
The state also points out that "a large majority of strong tornados that have caused fatalities in the state occurred during the months of February, March and April. That is outside of the June to through November hurricane season when residents and visitors are sheltered for land-falling hurricanes."
Furthermore, by requiring the stiffer new FEMA design criteria in Florida, state officials warn, "inadequate funding" is available for the seven shelters now being planned or constructed that would provide 4,432 new shelter spaces.
State Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey, the majority whip, this week wrote to all of Florida's members of Congress urging that the rule be reconsidered.
"Because of this, shelters that are in the process of being constructed have to stop and restart the planning process, causing an extra unexpected cost of millions of dollars to our taxpayers," he wrote.
The fiscal impact of new rule "just causes too much of a burden, especially in a year as this, where Florida is enduring an economic slow down," Fasano added.
"I hope that our congressmen and congresswoman are able to convince FEMA that Florida doesn't need to meet these standards," said Fasano in an interview.
The offices of Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, who is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security that oversees FEMA, said they are already working on the matter.
"We've been talking with the governor's office and helping any way we can," said Dan McLaughlin, a Nelson spokesman.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@mediageneral.com.