Two weeks ago, the Miami Herald began asking the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) about the “complete hurricane/disaster plan for Alligator Alcatraz.” They still don’t have one.
When President Donald Trump visited the facility with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), he praised the state’s ability to quickly build the pop-up prison for immigrants. PBS News reported that it took just eight days to build the temporary facility over land used for airport training. It’s taking much longer, however, for the state to come up with a disaster response plan.
The report stated that on Monday, the paper received a response from the emergency management spokesperson regarding their requests for the plan. She confirmed, “There are no responsive records for this request.”
In a press conference at the facility last week, DeSantis and FDEM head Kevin Guthrie claimed that the tents, trailers and chain-link fences were equipped to handle sustained hurricane winds up to 110 mph. If the winds got worse, they would evacuate, the men claimed.
When asked about the specifics, Guthrie responded, “I promise you that the hurricane guys have got the hurricane stuff covered.”
The nearest neighbors of the facility are the Miccosukee Tribe, which has “extensive emergency management and evacuation plans” for tribal members there, the report said. Curtis Osceola, who serves as the senior executive policy advisor for the Tribe, called the lack of a plan “reckless.”
The low-lying camp nestled in the Everglades wetlands began flooding after it rained in the first days it opened, NBC6 in South Florida reported.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma dropped almost two feet of water on the region. The Tribe has reinforced concrete surrounding its site to protect it, and it even needed “pumps to keep the village dry.”
Neither DeSantis nor Guthrie mentioned a response to the flood risks.
“If there are no plans, it certainly puts lives at risk during one of the most dangerous and unpredictable times of year for Florida,” Osceola said. “Everything about this just shows how poorly planned this was, and now that we’re seeing there’s no hurricane plan, it’s proof positive that this was not thought through beyond making headlines.”