Lafayette County Emergency Management

Welcome to the Lafayette County Website. This site is intended for the convenience of our residents and visitors and we hope you’ll find a wealth of information on the wide range of County services, programs and activities that make this a great place to live, work and play.

Thank you for visiting!

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Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Have you ever wondered how you would handle an emergency, natural or man made, if it were to happen to you? Do you know emergency first aid? How to properly use a fire extinguisher? The Lafayette County Emergency Management Office wishes to form a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Emergency Management; (386) 294-1950. Tim Smoak; (386) 208-8900, or Eric Black; (813) 600-9598 can be contacted for information. We are looking forward to establishing our county CERT program. HAM radio will be taught to our members by Mr. Black so if you're interested, please give us a call.

Find out more by downloading the Lafayette CERT Brochure or go to the CERT Web page www.LafayetteCERT.org

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EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

CodeRED

Seconds Count In An Emergency!

Lafayette County has instituted the CodeRED Emergency Notification System - an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. This system allows us to telephone all or targeted areas of the County in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action (such as a boil-water notice, missing child or evacuation notices).

The system is capable of dialing 50,000 phone numbers per hour. It then delivers our recorded message to a live person or an answering machine, making three attempts to connect to any number.

Click here to get started.

THIS SYSTEM WILL ONLY BE USED FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES.

Examples of times when the CodeRED system could be utilized:

• Drinking water contamination
• Utility outage
• Evacuation notice & route
• Missing person
• Fires or Floods
• Bomb threat
• Hostage situation
• Chemical spill or Gas leak
• and other emergency incidents where rapid and accurate notification is essential for life safety.

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2010 Florida Hurricane Season Predictions

Sent on behalf of the Florida Distribution Storm Center

“Above average season”

15 Named Storms

8 Hurricanes

4 Major Storms (cat 3, winds of at least 111mph)

CNN) -- University forecasters predict the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will be above average, with 15 named storms and eight of those becoming hurricanes.

The Colorado State University report was released Wednesday, nearly two months before the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1.

In the report, forecasters William Gray and Phil Klotzbach said that El Niño conditions will dissipate by summer and that unusually warm tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures will persist, leading to favorable conditions for hurricanes to develop and intensify.

Of the eight expected hurricanes, the forecasters predict that four will strengthen to major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength. Category 3 storms have sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

The forecast said the probability of a major hurricane making landfall along the U.S. coastline is 69 percent. It said there was a 58 percent chance of a major hurricane tracking into the Caribbean.

However, the two forecasters emphasize the forecast is preliminary and that revised ones will be released on June 2 and August 4."We issue these forecasts to satisfy the curiosity of the general public and to bring attention to the hurricane problem," the report said.Gray and Klotzbach said that precursors to this year's hurricane season are similar to early April conditions ahead of the 1958, 1966, 1969, 1998 and 2005 seasons.

"All five of these seasons had above-average activity, especially the seasons of 1969, 1998 and 2005," a statement from Colorado State University said.

However, Klotzbach and Gray predict the 2010 season will have slightly less activity than the average of these five earlier years.

Last year's hurricane season was below average, with nine named tropical storms, three of which were hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center said it was the lowest number of tropical storms for the Atlantic basin since 1997.

Klotzbach and Gray put out four predictions for each hurricane season, beginning in December before the season begins.

A typical season has 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The hurricane season will end November 30, but later storms have been known to happen.

NOTICE - 28 April 2009
Swine Flu Talking Points from the State of Florida Emergency Operations Center

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Swine Influenza Brochure

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

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