Schools, hospitals prep for possible storm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Keeping kids safe and hospitals running during a tropical storm or a hurricane is a major concern for school and city officials, who are continuing to follow Erika's path across the tropics and into Florida.

Officials at Memorial Hospital are getting plans in place so that everyone is on the same page as the storm moves their way, having met all day Friday in case there is any impact to the Jacksonville area by Tropical Storm Erika.

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They said they are planning on having more food and more water on hand than they usually have just in case they need it to last them while making sure their backup generators are fueled and ready to go.

"At all times, we have a four-day supply of those types of supplies. We pulled up on that obviously in the event of something that might impact the hospital longer-term," Bobby McCullough, chief operating officer of Memorial Hospital, said.

McCullough said that their plans also include making sure that employees know when they might potentially have to work if Erika does come to town as a hurricane.

"We make sure that we have teams that are ready to come in before impact, and during a storm and I have teams ready to relieve those teams and personnel," McCullough said.

Facility crews were busy at the hospital Friday making sure that the building and roof are free from any loose debris.

Hospital leaders said that if it looks like there might be an impact to utilities at Memorial, they will not schedule any elective procedures, but hospital patients and the ER wouldn't see an impact.

"Perhaps we may move patients away from windows, those types of precautions, but in terms of the care being delivered to the patients, it will be just as it always would be," McCullough said.

The hospital is also in touch with the Emergency Operations Center in Duval County and said that if Erika impacts the area they will update the EOC on how much space they have available for patients if they need it.

As far as local schools are concerned, school officials will continue to monitor Erika over the weekend to see if it is necessary to close any schools next week.

A spokesperson with the Duval County Public School District said they are also working with the EOC to prepare for the storm.

The Duval County School District, as well as several others across Florida, have hurricane makeup days if schools do need to close but district officials said it's too early to tell what steps they'll need to take.

"We have all of our staff going around to our schools making sure they are storm ready," Jason Wheeler with Flagler County Public Schools said.

If Erika does come through their area, Flagler County will be the first area to be hit. A spokesperson said they have a plan in place and get updates from their EOC twice a day. They said they'll probably have an idea of what action needs to be taken early next week.

Clay County school officials met with county officials at the local EOC about their plan if the storm hits. Several of their schools are hurricane shelters and are prepared just in case the storm comes through. Along with their parent notification system, using phone calls, they are also keeping parents up-to-date through their new Clay County Schools App, which parents can find on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

St. Johns County School District leaders also met with emergency officials to discuss the storm's path and preparations. They will have staff members available over the weekend while the storm is being monitored.

"We make sure our facilities and our campuses are safe if there are high winds, and we make sure we have a team on call if, in fact, things were to occur when school's not in session," Tim Forson, deputy superintendent for operations with the St. Johns County School District, said.

Forson also said the school district is ready to help if emergency crews need support.

"In years past, we do make sure that our transportation is prepared, our buses are prepared, things like fueling to make sure we can support the EOC and the county as a whole if we need to support them in areas of transportation," Forson said.

In Putnam County, a spokesperson said schools will remain open unless they are needed for shelters. However, they have already canceled a school board meeting scheduled for Tuesday night.

And Nassau County schools have a plan in place in the case of a severe storm after school officials met with EOC Friday to discuss preparations.

Officials in every school district said they will contact parents if classes are canceled due to the storm.

"We don't wanna jump the gun, we want to make sure a timely decision is made and that we do give our families plenty of time to prepare in case things do change. Right now, we have a wait-and-see attitude because things can change between now and the first of the week," Flagler County's Wheeler said.