Frequently Asked Questions

Emergency Management is responsible for making plans that would help all the county residents, businesses, services, and government offices are best prepared for a disaster. They also respond to disasters by staffing the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) when a hurricane or other disaster threatens.

Yes. Since Monroe County is within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant, the Emergency Management Department must have a radiological preparedness plan to ensure for residents safety should an incident at the power plant occur. In addition to the Plan, the Emergency Management exercises and trains on regular basis, all county emergency responders whom who be called upon to respond in case of radiological emergency. This is being conducted in close coordination with Miami-Dade Emergency Management, Florida Power & Light, State Emergency Management and Department of Health.

"StormReady" is a national voluntary program, administered through your local National Weather Service office, that gives communities the skills and education needed to cope with and manage potential weather-related disasters, before and during the event. The program encourages communities to take a new pro-active approach. This nationwide preparedness program uses a grassroots effort to help communities develop plans to improve local hazardous weather operations and public awareness for all types of local severe weather threats. In other words, StormReady is aimed at arming America's communities with the communication and safety skills necessary to save lives and property.

Local jurisdictions have the authority to declare, by resolution, a local state of emergency pursuant to Section 252.38(3)(a)5., Florida Statutes. A local state of emergency directive can be initiated by a county at any time, but in most cases, it should be declared prior to requesting a response or recovery assistance from the state. Declaring a local state of emergency informs state decision-makers that an emergency situation exists beyond the response or recovery capabilities of the local jurisdiction.

The enactment of such a directive will enable counties to:

• Initiate local emergency preparedness and response actions
• Request state assistance, if needed
• Invoke emergency-related mutual-aid assistance
• Waive the procedures and formalities otherwise required of the political subdivision by law, to respond to the emergency