Officers in hardest-hit Lee County, Florida, are going through mounting questions on why the primary necessary evacuations weren’t ordered till a day earlier than Hurricane Ian’s landfall —regardless of an emergency plan that means evacuations ought to have occurred earlier.
Lee County’s evacuation orders additionally got here a day or extra after these of neighboring counties to the north.
The county’s Complete Emergency Administration Plan states a ten% probability of 6 ft or extra of water “would point out the necessity” for hurricane evacuations in probably the most susceptible areas.
Nationwide Hurricane Middle advisories, reviewed by CNN, make first point out of “4-7 ft of surge” for that space as early as 11 p.m. ET Sunday — three days earlier than landfall. That degree of surge was predicted for an space from Englewood to Bonita Seashore – which incorporates your complete Lee County coast.
By 8 a.m. ET Tuesday, across the time of the primary evacuation message, the NHC upped the storm surge forecast to 5-10 ft. And by 11 a.m. ET, the forecast was expanded to 8-12 ft of storm surge for all of Lee County.
The county’s first announcement of necessary evacuations was not till Tuesday morning. In a information convention round 7 a.m. ET Tuesday, county officers introduced necessary evacuations for probably the most susceptible “Zone A” and elements of “Zone B” within the county.
The county additionally opened its first shelters at 9 a.m. ET Tuesday. Later that day, the county expanded the order to all of Zone B.
Different counties in Ian’s path, similar to Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties spent the day Monday issuing evacuation orders. And even earlier than Hillsborough County issued the formal order, Tampa’s mayor was urging the general public to evacuate.
“If you happen to can go away, simply go away now, and we’ll care for your private property,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor informed Kate Bolduan on CNN’s At This Hour round 11 a.m. ET Monday.
GOP Sen. Rick Scott, when pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash, declined to assign blame in Lee County, saying, “We’ll look and discover out” if correct evacuation procedures had been adopted. “I believe as soon as we get by this, we do an evaluation. What I’ve all the time tried to do as governor is say, okay, so what did we be taught in every one among these.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lee County officers have defended the county’s decision-making course of, pointing to a altering forecast observe that shifted the worst impacts South nearer to landfall.
At a information convention on Monday, the day earlier than the evacuation order was issued, Lee County Supervisor Roger Desjarlais rejected the notion that Hurricane Ian had been more difficult to plan for than different storms. He mentioned the truth that his county had been throughout the predicted observe of the middle of the storm days prior prompt the storm would in the end shift elsewhere.
“A pair days in the past Fort Myers, Lee County was proper within the very middle of the cone of… uncertainty, and that’s actually the perfect place to be, three or 4 days out as a result of the storm won’t ever ever behave that approach.” Desjarlais mentioned. “So, these variables all the time exist, and we prepare for and plan for all of the modifications within the traits of the storm.”
Desjarlais mentioned on Monday that regardless that the county had not but issued an evacuation order, residents ought to be at liberty to go away.
“If you happen to’re feeling a little bit nervous about this storm and the consequences, it’s okay to go now in order for you,” Desjarlais mentioned. “So, in case you really feel prefer it and also you suppose it’s a good suggestion, now is an effective time to get on the street and head to a safer a part of the state.”
The delays had been first reported by The New York Occasions, and Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane pushed again on the Occasions’ account in an interview with Boris Sanchez on CNN’s New Day Sunday, calling the report “inaccurate” and defending the timetable.
“Sadly, folks did get complacent,” Ruane mentioned when speaking about why folks might not have evacuated sooner. “So far as I am involved the shelters had been open, that they had the power, that they had all day Tuesday, that they had a superb a part of Wednesday because the storm was coming down – that they had the power to take action.”
And Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson informed CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday morning that “warnings for hurricane season begin in June. And so, there is a diploma of non-public duty right here. I believe the county acted appropriately. The factor is {that a} sure proportion of individuals won’t heed the warnings regardless.”
CNN’s Keith Allen and Andy Rose contributed to this report
