Key West The Newspaper

MONROE COUNTY, FL — Monroe County has relocated its Emergency Operations Center to the Upper Keys. Operations continue around the clock.

ROAD CONDITIONS:

The only location on the Overseas Highway with reports of problems so far is at Sea Oates Beach in Islamorada. Water already has begun to sweep across portions of the road, with one lane blocked in sections.

SHELTER INFORMATION:
Monroe County’s shelter at Florida International University is full – with 560 general population and 115 special needs patients.

Monroe County’s shelter at the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds and Exposition also has people from Miami-Dade County.

For Keys residents already in the mainland and seeking shelter, go to miamidade.gov for a list of shelters:

Monroe County has four refuges of last resort, which opened at 7 a.m. today. They are located at:

·        Coral Shores High School; 89951 Overseas Hwy; Plantation Key FL 33036 (MM89.9 ocean side)

·        Marathon High School; 350 Sombrero Road; Marathon, FL 33050 (MM 50 ocean side)

·        Sugarloaf School; 225 Crane Blvd.; Sugarloaf Key, FL (MM 19 gulf side)

·        Key West High School; 2100 Flagler Ave.; Key West, FL 33040 (MM 2)

Monroe County is not staffing these refuges of last resort and do not have the number of people using them. No services will be available at these sites.

The refuges of last resort are only to provide a safe location to ride out the storm rather than to be stuck in a vehicle or structure that is unsafe.  They will close again after the unsafe weather conditions have passed.  They are not recovery shelters.

WHEN THE STORM PASSES

When the storm passes, entry into the Florida Keys will not be immediate for residents. The bridges and roadways must be inspected first. Monroe County already has plans in place for crews to do the inspections as soon as conditions are safe.  A hotline will be setup for people to call to find out when U.S. 1 will be safe enough for residents to return.

If you need to search for a friend or family member in Monroe County after the storm or if you want to let family and friends know you are all right, go to the Red Cross’ Safe & Well” website.

This is a centralized location for people in disaster areas to register their current status, and for their loved ones to access that information.

To list yourself as safe and well, go to the following link:

https://safeandwell. communityos.org/zf/safe/add

To search for a family member, go to this link:

https://safeandwell. communityos.org/zf/safesearch/ search