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Poverty Is The Greatest Impediment To Preparation
The Miami Herald 05-31-2006 Andrea Robinson And Natalie P. Mcneal, arobinson@MiamiHerald.com On the cusp of a new hurricane season, Sheila Tobias is in a bind. Generators, flashlights, batteries and nonperishable food are things that South Florida's poor and working-class families may not be able to afford for the coming storms. Among them is Tobias, a Miramar mother of two and a substitute school bus driver who makes $9 an hour. "I don't have the extra money," said Tobias, 39. "I have to take care of the kids, take care of school clothes. That's all the money I have." Many area residents share her predicament. More than 28 percent of Miami residents live below the poverty level, defined as just above $19,000 a year for a family of four - making Miami the third-poorest large city in the country. About 17 percent of Miami-Dade residents and 10 percent of Broward residents live in poverty. For these people, social service and government agencies are emphasizing preparedness, and they're prepackaging thousands of meals for distribution right after a storm. But officials acknowledge the need potentially far exceeds demand for help during a disaster. "Poverty is the greatest impediment to preparation," Craig Fugate, Florida's director of emergency operations, said Tuesday. Broward's Red Cross estimates it costs at least $10 per day to feed a hurricane victim with basic canned foods, a gallon of water and granola bars. EARLIER START This year, more social service organizations are packing supplies early so they can be distributed right after a storm, said Lynn Cameron, executive director of Neighbors 4 Neighbors. "We realized you got to be ready, and you can't wait for people to come to you," she said. "You really have to go to the people. A lot of people aren't capable of coming out to Metrozoo [to pick up water and ice]." In Miami-Dade, the food cooperative Farm Share program is teaming up with Trinity Church of North Miami to stock refrigerated trailers and a warehouse with food. Part of the inventory, said the Rev. Linda Freeman, are food boxes to last individuals for three days. Those packages will be available when the warehouse opens in early June. "People can start getting the things that they need . . . that have a long shelf life like soups and milk," Freeman said. "They can start building their pantry. It will take a bit of time." Fugate urged citizens to purchase inexpensive batteries, flashlights and radios, or look for items tucked away in their homes. "If you do a scavenger hunt you will find things around your home," he said. South Florida government leaders say they're concentrating on giving information to help residents prepare for and stay safe after a storm. Both Broward and Miami-Dade counties have hosted fairs and rallies to educate residents on evacuation routes and shelter locations and to advise them to buy food and supplies in increments. ROOF REPAIRS The Partnership for Recovery, a public-private group started in Miami-Dade after Wilma, set up a program to assist low-income homeowners with roof repairs and replacement. The No Blue Roofs program matches licensed and insured Florida roofers with Miami-Dade residents who qualify for financial assistance. The campaign is funded through donations from local corporations. Targeting senior citizens, Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones will distribute 1,500 emergency kits that include flashlights, batteries, dry foods and handouts with emergency contact numbers at a Thursday rally at the Coconut Grove Expo Center. Miami-Dade County is teaming with the American Red Cross and the Community Partnership for Homeless to prepare and serve up to 200,000 hot meals per day following a hurricane. The Broward County Emergency Management Agency is handing out an eight-week shopping list to help residents buy hurricane supplies over a period of time. "For some people, buying supplies for every member of their family at one time would be costly," said Carl Fowler, spokesman for the Broward agency. "Adding a few items to your regular shopping list each week is the easiest way to complete your Hurricane Kit with minimal impact to your budget." Week One's list includes buying a gallon of water for each family member and one vegetable item, canned soup, a package of paper plates, a box of matches, a jar of peanut butter and canned meat. The Cooperative Feeding Program of Broward has prepared 500 survival kits that include a gallon of bleach to purify water, eye droppers to dispense the bleach, and Saran Wrap to help stop the drain in the bathtub where water should be stored during a storm. The Jubilee Center of South Broward, which caters to the area's indigent, is making 200 care packages that will take care of families for three days. The center pays $82.56 for each package. FOOD `WOULD HELP' Linda Watson, 43, says she will be needing the Jubilee Center's food for herself, her boyfriend and two neighborhood children she supports. Watson, an unemployed secretary, lives in a van in Broward with her boyfriend, a landscaper. She has a can opener and candles. She has a grill to cook food. She just needs the food. "It would help," Watson said. A large population that worries nonprofit groups is South Florida's seniors. "A lot of seniors don't have money to put food on the table because pharmaceutical costs are so high," said Edith Lederberg, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging of Broward. "They can't afford generators, that's for sure." Lederberg estimates that 8 percent - more than 27,900 - of Broward's 349,000 seniors may be impoverished. Ed Strinko, disaster coordinator with the Alliance for Aging in Miami-Dade, estimates that 25 percent - or 107,000 - of the 430,000 seniors in Miami-Dade live below the poverty line. One concern, Strinko said, is that many seniors are reluctant to leave their homes when a storm comes or don't have the means to do so. "If there's a major event here, the elderly will face some very serious problems. There are enormous numbers of people that do not have cars," he said. "We don't have the resources to help." Nelida Andrade and Milagros Ferreras share a three-bedroom home in the shadow of million-dollar mansions near South Miami. The home has severe leaks, caused by hurricanes Katrina and Wilma last year; dozens of buckets catch rainwater. Roof repairs will cost about $20,000, far beyond the means of Andrade, a 68-year-old retiree who gets $6,300 a year in Social Security and does not have homeowner's insurance. Andrade and Ferreras, 73, have no refrigerator, so several days a week they buy ice to put into a small chest where they store their meats and other cold foods. "We spend $4 every two days to get ice at Publix and Winn-Dixie," Ferreras said. "It's a lot of money.''" So far, Andrade has received $5,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and applied for help from the No Blue Tarps program. On Friday, Christina Bacogiannis, a spokeswoman with Partnership for Recovery, said Andrade was approved for help. JUST CANS AND CANDLES Andrade and Ferreras chuckled when asked if they were ready for hurricane season. Their storm kit consists of a few candles saved from last year and a little bit of canned food. "That's it," Ferreras said. "We are almost on the verge of having a nervous breakdown." Ministers, social workers and case managers at agencies that assist low-income residents hear an increasing amount of such angst and fear - and repeated questions. Among the most common, said Kirby Morrow, clinical director of Lutheran Family Services of Florida's housing program: "Can you tell me what they're doing about housing? What's going to happen to me?" HURRICANE HELP Here are some South Florida organizations and agencies providing assistance and/or information for low-income residents:
Florida's sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness items ends at midnight Thursday. Tax-free items include blue ice, batteries flashlights, radios, lanterns, candles, safety equipment and generators costing $1,000 less. 
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