Florida Jail in Hurricane Milton Danger Zone Won't Evacuate Inmates
Source: Newsweek
Published Oct 08, 2024 at 3:25 PM EDT | Updated Oct 08, 2024 at 4:37 PM EDT
As of Tuesday afternoon, Manatee County Jail is not planning on evacuating approximately 1,200 inmates, even as state and local officials stress that Florida residents should heed evacuation warnings ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival. Hurricane Milton was classified as a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, making it 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane.
After hitting Category 5 status on Monday, the storm weakened slightly but appears to be intensifying again. Forecasts show Milton making landfall in Tampa on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, but the expected wind speeds and exact location of landfall are still uncertain.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Manatee County Jail deputy told Newsweek that the jail is in the Zone A evacuation zone. Manatee County has issued mandatory evacuations for all people in Zones A and B. "We do not issue evacuation orders lightly," Manatee County Public Safety Director Jodie Fiske said. "Milton is anticipated to cause more storm surge than Helene. So, if you stayed during Helene and got lucky, I would not press my luck with this particular system."
However, as of Tuesday afternoon, the deputy said that officials had not planned to evacuate the jail. The jail has stocked up on supplies and sandbags, and should it flood, inmates could be moved to the top floor of the two-story building. The deputy said the jail had not flooded to that extent in the past. Deputies will also remain at the jail during the storm.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/florida-jail-hurricane-milton-evacuation-zone-manatee-county-1965915
= new reply since forum marked as read
faithfulness and competence of... *checks notes*... some Florida sheriff's deputies.
Oh.
And even that is assuming the building remains standing.
or refrigerators. 
They could easily transport inmates to a prison or other jails outside the disaster zone.
"In 1991, Sheriff Wells was named the Manatee County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. He received the Manatee County Whitey Knutsen Award in 1991; Unidos Now Visionary Award in 2012; the NAACP Humanitarian Award in 2014, and the Edgar H. Price, Jr. Humanitarian Award in 2016."
With all of those awards, Sheriff Rick Wells does not want to evacuate the 1,200 inmates from Hurricane Milton which has been described as a "meteorological monster." What's he thinking? I hope Sheriff Wells changes his mind while there is still time to transport everyone.
Source:
https://www.manateesheriff.com/about/sheriff_rick_wells.php
