Floridians too complacent about hurricane menace, Katrina veteran warns

TAMPA — Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the man widely credited with restoring order to a chaotic post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, has a word of warning for Floridians who believe they have hurricanes figured out.

"The people in Florida think they're smarter than the people in Louisiana," the retired Army general who commanded Joint Task Force Katrina said Monday, addressing law enforcement officers at Tampa Airport Marriott. "No, you're not. You just haven't been hit by a Katrina."

Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005, soon eclipsing Florida's Category 5 Hurricane Andrew as the costliest in U.S. history.

Andrew went ashore south of Miami in 1992, killing 23 and leaving $26.5 billion in damage as it barrelled across South Florida and then slammed into Louisiana. Experts hold Katrina responsible for at least 1,500 deaths and $81 billion in damage.

Speaking before the National Law Enforcement Training Conference, which goes through Wednesday, Honore said complacency is the greatest challenge communities face when it comes to disaster preparedness.

His new book, SURVIVAL: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters, (Atria Books, 304 pages, $25.00) — part memoir, part how-to manual — focuses on the responsibility of the individual to be ready in the face of disaster.

"My concern with Florida is the last time you really got smacked hard was Andrew," Honore said.

He referenced the state's busy 2004 hurricane season, acknowledging it was, "personal" for those affected, but Honore added that he worries the people of the Panhandle State are too naive or overconfident to heed evacuation orders.

The evacuation rate for Louisiana and Mississippi prior to Katrina was 80 percent, he said, a rate higher than the average for Florida.

According to a 2005 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, only 37.9 percent of Floridians living in the direct path of a hurricane in 2004 evacuated, though 51 percent reported having evacuation plans prior to the storms.

"I'm telling you," Honore said, "there's an a-- whipping coming for Florida."

Mike Stone, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said that preparedness is always an issue.

In May, the agency surveyed Floridians and found 79 percent say they would heed evacuation orders.

"It's one of those realities that we live with, and people need to have their plans in place," Stone said. "Nobody knows when its going to occur, but it's a matter of time when the next storm comes a calling."

Besides raising the flag over hurricane readiness, Honore predicted the H1N1 flu, or swine flu, will pose an increasingly significant challenge to the United States in the coming months and year, especially as football season begins, drawing large crowds together on a regular basis.

"We're not ready," he said. "I don't think we've spent the time getting the country ready and I don't think the country has spent the time getting the states ready."

Local governments, he said, need to start warning citizens now about how they will administer vaccinations to various populations and age groups once a high-demand vaccine is developed and, more than likely, is in short supply.

Additionally, there needs to be a culture shift in the American workplace, he said. Employees who experience symptoms associated with the pandemic strain should be encouraged to stay at home without risk of being penalized by their bosses.

"We've been talking about this for years," he said of the pandemic. "This is no stranger to people familiar with pandemic scenarios. But what we haven't done is talk to the public."

The National Law Enforcement Training Conference sponsored by the American Association of State Troopers is drawing about 110 officers from across the country.

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.