Coronavirus concerns could change procedures at hurricane shelters

Hurricane season is around the corner and county leaders in Southwest Florida look into changes for hurricane shelters due to coronavirus fears.

AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC...LAUREN?00 to 1944 TO 541:42 TO 1:54SCRIPT:(ANCHOR)HI EVERYONE, I’M LAUREN PETRELLI.WITH HURRICANE SEASON FASTAPPROACHIN━ YOU MAY BE THINKINGOF WAYS TO PREPARE WHILE TAKINGTHE PANDEMIC INTO ACCOUNT.THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO HASMANY PEOPLE ASKING QUESTIONSSPECIFICALLY ABOUT SHELTERS.WE TOOK THOSE CONCERNS STRAIGHTTO COUNTY LEADERS AND THEYEXPLAINED TO ME HOW THEY PLAN TOKEEP YOU SAFE.(PACKAGE)(SOT)"We understand the greaterconcern going into this year."WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON WITHCOVID-19 HURRICANE SEASON ISN’TEXACTLY A WELCOME THOUGHT.BUT IT’S A REALITY EMERGENCYOPERATIONS CENTERS IN SOUTHWESTFLORIDA ARE WORKING THROUGH.THE VIRUS HAS THE POTENTIAL TOCHANGE MANY THINGS ABOUT THESEASON ESPECIALLY EVACUATIONSHELTERS.(SOT)LEE MAYFIELD// LEE COUNTYEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT"Some of the big changes we maybe looking at is opening moreshelters to allow for morespacing and social distancing."LEE MAYFIELD WITH LEE COUNTYEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LISTS THATAS ONE DIFFERENCE FOR THIS YEAR.SOME OF THE OTHERS COULD INCLUDEPEOPLE WEARING FACE MASKS,ADDITIONAL CLEANING, ANDHEALTH-RELATED SCREENINGQUESTIONS.IF SOMEONE HAS SYMPTOMS OF THEVIRUS THEY COULD BE SEPARATEDFROM OTHERS.(SOT)LEE MAYFIELD// LEE COUNTYEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT"Looking at areas of the shelterthat could be used for thosefolks.

This is something we havein our toolbox all of the time."AND CHARLOTTE COUNT━ THEIR PLANIS SIMILAR.OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE ARELOOKING AT HOTELS AS A SHELTERALTERNATIVE TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFEAND DISTANCED.I ASKED DIRECTOR PATRICK FULLERIF THIS COULD BE AN OPTION FORHIS COUNTY, HE SAYS THEY LOOKEDINTO IT, BUT THE NUMBER OFPEOPLE VERSUS ROOMS DOESN’T ADDUP.(SOT)PATRICK FULLER// CHARLOTTECOUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENTDIRECTOR"I think hotels could onbridge a small gap of theshelter capacity.

There aren’tas many hotels as we would need,our shelters we don’t even haveenough of on a regular-season"BOTH COUNTY LEADERS STRESSEDTHAT SHELTERS EVERY YEA━ BUTESPECIALLY THIS YEA━ SHOULD BEA LAST RESORT.(SOT)PATRICK FULLER// CHARLOTTECOUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENTDIRECTOR"Please don’t use shelters asyour first option please planahead of time where you canevacuate if asked to."(TAG)EVERYONE I SPOKE TO ALSOMENTIONED IT’S NEVER TOO EARLYTO START PREPARING.HERE AT FOX ━ WE ALSO WANT YOUTO BE READY FOR HURRICANESEASON.JOIN US FRIDAY MAY 29TH AT 6:30FOR OUR HURRICANE SPECIAL WHEREWE WILL HAVE MORE RESOURCES THATWILL HELP YOU FEEL MORE PRE