
Richmond –
"Better safe than sorry”
and "Always be prepared,”
are good mottos
to live by, especially when
forced to anticipate
unpredictably dangerous
circumstances. That certainly
was Governor
Ralph Northam’s
approach during
Hurricane Florence.
But it left the
commonwealth with a
record $60 million bill,
and most of it — $43 million
— was spent on three
evacuation shelters that
housed 52 people. The
shelters, set up at
Christopher Newport
University, the College of
William and Mary and
Virginia Commonwealth
University, were
equipped to house and
feed 6,000 people for a
week.
The Virginia
Department of
Emergency Services
opened them as part of
the state’s emergency plan
that was put into action
when Northam issued a
first-ever mandatory
evacuation order for
coastal areas. The problem
was timing.
According to a report
VDEM itself issued only
13 months ago, it takes
five days to set up such
shelters, but storm forecasts
cannot accurately
pinpoint a hurricane’s
track that far out. Its path
comes into focus closer
one or two days prior to
landfall. The report called
into question the plan’s
cost, calling it "unfeasible,”
but a call had to be
made and Northam made
it.
Not to worry,
though, Mr. and Mrs.
Taxpayer. The federal
government, via FEMA,
will reimburse Virginia
for a little more than $32
million. That doesn’t
mean state lawmakers are
pacified. Many, including
Delegate Chris Jones (RSuffolk),
who chairs the
House Appropriations
Committee, are puzzled
over how the tab got so
high and said as much
during a recent presentation
by Finance Secretary
Aubrey Layne to the committee.
The commonwealth
found itself in a
vice because of the
urgency of the situation. It
contracted with DRC
Emergency Services,
which set up the shelters
within 24 hours at a cost
of $650 per evacuee
(based on 5,775 people).
The plan called for state
agencies to staff the shelters.
However, the state
doesn’t warehouse the
supplies necessary for
housing that many people
over that length of time.
It’s not cheap and only
gets more expensive when
extreme weather conditions
put their price at a
premium.
The problem just
isn’t the problem. A major
reason a solution hasn’t
been found is that localities
and the state don’t
share data well, hampering
opportunities to coordinate,
decentralize and
bring in non-profit organizations
such as the Red
Cross, a suggestion from
the 2017 VDEM study.
Typically, a bill requiring
localities to share such
information was signed
into law this year but the
first reports won’t be compiled
until 2019.
That leaves
Virginians subject to
another hurricane season
next year before officials
can fine tune the emergency
plan. While the current
version may offer
protection from a storm, it
doesn’t do much to shelter
taxpayers’ wallets. Here’s
hoping a new plan will
protect both.
Stephen J. (Steve)
Rossie is a Richmond-based
public and government relations’
consultant. He has
been a General Assembly
lobbyist since 2006 and has
written about Virginia government
since 2007.