Way to go, EOC guys. Good job. Way to work hard at doing... Wait a minute. ...

What the heck are you guys doing?!? Are we taxpayers actually paying you guys wages?!?

I think we should go back to 1920 when there was no county, state, or federal intervention with disasters. Let us take care of ourselves, please, and get out of our way.

W O L F when it is time for everyone to pay attention, if a storm does head our way, it will be actions like this that make people callous and careless to warnings.

This is reckless behavior. These people want to practice, they want to play with their new building and toys.

I believe Mr. Summers is should be held personally responsible when people ignore future warnings when people have no faith in the reliability of him and his staff.

Frankly I think this obvious poor judgment should result in a performance review of Mr. Summers, I actually believe he should be fired over this.

This is inexcusable behavior. People will not listen in the future his credibility is shot, fire him.

Collier Commissioners, in case you dont know about this weather site here it is! www.crownweather.com

Panic first, think later. EM staff have a way of freaking everyone out.

6whitehorses - they all are far from being local yakols - most county employee elites haven't lived here more than 10 years.

Name one of those Collier County Govnment official that is from here in the SW Florida area - I can't, can you?

RYU

Bonita is just as misguided

BONITA SPRINGS — Bonita Springs City Council members today declared a state of emergency for the city in the expectation that effects from Hurricane Ike will be felt in Southwest Florida.

The state of emergency became effective at noon today. (Saturday)

PIEFACE: I just wish Summers didn't go on and on and on and on.

I do think he is erring heavily on the side of caution. The reason seems to be that if Mother Nature moves the storm a tad one way or the other we could be in trouble and the time to get the paperwork to FEMA etc. is not in the 5 minutes before a storm could hit.

I think Commissioner Henning was the only one who was thinking critically.

Commissioner Fiala was all aflutter over how the people would not be so scared because the County was taking care of them! Give me a break, we need to learn how to take care of ourselves. Yes, we want some measure of assurance that the county will coordinate any recovery with other entities should this be needed, but arggh! "taken care of????" A little over the top.

If this storm wobbles our way, Summers will be a hero (long winded, but a hero), but if it stays on the predicted course of the moment, he will have bloggers out to lynch him.

If all the things that need to happen for preparation COULD happen (opening shelters...special needs being the PREMIERE focus of the entire county) very quickly, then he jumped the gun. But the mobilization of the Red Cross and closing of schools is not an instant event.

Monday AM might have been a better time for this meeting. Do you always trust your Mother Natures nature? LOL. Perhaps Crist should be held accountable for declaring a state of emergency for Hanna and this storm as well. We could crucify him too. (not trying to offend any particular religion here...)

Where the heck is Coyle? Is he a snowbird? Seriously, anyone know?

Jeff Masters from the NHC recently said that Ike has a 20% chance of turning toward the FL straits (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Jeff.... So I think it is wise to declare a state of emergency for Collier, even if prematurely.

This is much ado about nothing I think.
The commissioners are probably better safe than sorry and it's better to be over-prepared than under-.
As far as causing panic I don't see how this could be. I think most of us, especially here, have been tracking this storm and it's possible tracks long before this emergency declaration and have a pretty good idea of what might happen. And as far as the declaration itself goes I've been here for almost exactly 21 years and I've yet to be informed of a state of emergency, or anything else for that matter, by any county employee.
So this declaration means nothing whatsoever to me.

Declaring a state of emergency is in part a legal action, to allow the county to do things they couldn't normally do, related to hours of work, overtime, purchasing,etc. As a precaution, it's harmless, so relax, get off their case, they were working on Sunday while we were drinking ice tea and watching NFL. It's the NDN that made something out of nothing.

ahimsa
I haven't seen that name since a long long time ago in northern California, Occidental, California I believe. Pretty Funny

"Declaring a state of emergency" is merely a method for the County to get money for overtime, purchasing, etc. Naiveté me though it had to do with our health and welfare. Not the financial welfare of the County. When did Collier start reading the Miami Dade playbook on how to get federal and state assistance?

You gotta love these storms, the flooding is the only way we get to see the wildlife return to it's natural habitat for a few days!! Boy the birds and frogs have been having a field day since Faye! There is still some Mint Chip over at the other story!!!!

Looks like Gitmo will take in head on. Hopefully the Weather Channel will be there with some nice video of the prayer rugs flying.

First of all most of you haven't a clue. Collier must declare a disaster in order to get ANY assistance from FEMA period. Ok then, say we don't then I guess you won't object to having your taxes go up to fund clean ups, repairs etc.
Also some of you keep talking about the "new toys and building". Well guess what? It isn't even finished yet. Won't be until the end of the year. Delayed because of our fine part time residents of Countryside. I bet some of you were even the ones who were complaining about no ice and MRE's during Wilma. Mr. Summers is one of the foremost Emergency Managers in the country. He errs on the side of saving lives.

Just an informed citizen

Agreed GeorgeJetson.

Declaring a state of emergency is in part a legal action, as quoted by blogger Doctorate.

Think about New Orleans, they failed on this respect.

Ray had no say...

GeorgeJetson, I agree that Summers is good at his job. But it would be nice to hear him be more concise. After the meeting, he was being interviewed and his tone and tempo were more clear. Listening to him take the long way around the block gets tiring, unless you are Commissioner Hala, from the looks of things.

Money does count. If he had waited, the funding may not be there, if we need it.

I think the Commissioners understand that. I did like the way Commissioner Henning made sure the declaration was more accurate and didn't just nod in agreement with Summers. He got good answers, but if he had just sat there and not asked his questions, the complete rationale could have appeared weaker.

We are the second county with any landmass north of a storm moving in any northerly direction from the vicinity of western Cuba. Lee county and the others along the coast would have more time should another event move up from this area.

GeorgeJetson, Do you know what all his talk about east coast land fall was all about? I heard something somewhere that the County's contracted weather predicting service was talking about Jacksonville. They sure seemed to have a different opinion than NHC and others. Does FEMA follow NHC or do they take into consideration the "pay for forecast" private meteorologist's opinions also?

I guess Gitmo prison is a safe place to be in a hurricane...how unfortunate! Really, shouldn't we have invaded Cuba instead of Iraq...we would have more beach front property.

Blue, I believe if you look at the first few predictions, the plot was for Ike to turn and follow Hanna, but the Bermuda high and the high NW of here combined and forced it to go westward. It seems that it moved more south the past day and that's why it is further away from us. As far as who FEMA uses, I don't know, but I do know that during a storm situation, Collier participates on regular conference calls with the NWS and the NHC. They also have access to online resources, and have access to the regular updates before the public.

Don't any of them look at the weather sites? No one has that storm coming anywhere near SW FL.

I do not believe it is funding from FEMA that makes them do this. The funding from FEMA arrives AFTER a disaster and after you declare yourself a disaster area and ask for confirmation from FEMA inspectors.

Why they do this is so they can extend workers hours, order equipment, and other practices that normally would need a chain of command approval. By declaring it allows Summers to have more power to make decisions based on needs and he can move more rapidly than if they do not act.

However, it still is germane that this storm was not coming here, was calculated to be at least 200 miles away so that this was unnecessary and like everyone's disregard for the weatherman's hyped up forecasts, the same result will occur if the county does not act reasonably and responsibly.

This was an act of cya for no reason.

Doctorate...your Ph wannabe D is clearly clouding your thinking..if this storm hits, Collier has to be prepared.
R U seriously thinking this is a Miami Dade wannabe thing....

No, not when Miami once declared bankcruptcy... Collier doesn't think like Miami....AT ALL!

Collier has it's ducks in a row!

Summers is in the know!

Doc wanna be..here you go...since you are citing Miami.

Bankruptcy of City of Miami comes to Beetle's mind:

in 1996 to be exact, the City of Miami said well, we ran outta money....help....

not the case here in Collier...

poor comparison doctorate!

From what I understand, you have to declare the state of emergency BEFORE it happens if you want things expedited. Personally, I'd rather call it and not have to "use" it rather than sit here with our thumbs up our butts wondering what happened after Ike hits us....ie New Orleans a few years back. A little hurricane called Katrina. Who cares that it's proactive.

Freshface thanx for your fresh ideas, which are so essential in these matters.

Sometimes people are lax in their thinking about preparing for a storm.

Or they are totally ignorant like Doc.

Let's refresh our memories shall we?! Hurricane Charlie... Every forcast model had it making land fall NOT in SW Florida... We all waited and watched, and then about 2 hours before Charlie came ashore, the LOCAL weather guys broke with the national forecast and said SW Florida prepare!!! Look what it did!!

Thank you Collier County for being proactive on this, and taking steps in case needs arise from a more direct impact on Collier County..!!
So you stock up on some batteries, heck if you do not have to use them, then they are there to throw into the countless battery sucking games and devices the kids have or get for Christmas.

You get a couple of gallons of water, we all could stand to drink a little more water.. Not like it will spoil overnight.

Same thing as canned foods.. Great for using on those nights no one feels like cooking.

The point is I guess, I would rather have everyone knowing what they are going to do IN CASE! Besides, even at the path it appears to be on right now, we have no idea really what it is going to do from Cuba... AND even if it passes off the coast of Naples, we WILL still feel something! Tornadoes possibly, winds, and rain. To a county that is still dealing with flood issues from Fay, there may be a need of some unfortunate family who get flooded or wind damage... At least we will be prepared. Not panic, preparation...

Dr roogins, your comments are music to those who care about preparations in these storms.
It's easy to ignore storms.
But those who care, are aware!
Building a hurricane kit with all the essentials is the first step.
Beetle's ready.

kneejerk..R U kidding?

To hold one person accountable for your personal odiocy in not preparing for these storms is pathetic.

It's pretty basic to take care of yourself.

but to blame others......

ignorance, plain and simple.

The City didn't declare a state of emergency, they decided to wait and see, and not put the residents in a state of alarm. As slow as Ike is moving there is plenty of time, no sense using a shotgun approach. For once I agree with Henning!

Well sixwhite...................you should have been with the people in Homestead after ANDREW Forcasted for Ft Lauderdale, hit Homestead, no one knew for quite a while that we were hit, took about three days to get something cold to drink, over 100 F, no leaves on trees or shade, no electric for 4 MONTHS etc etc..........KUDO's to the Commissioners for being cautious.

So you were in Miami? You saw the pandemonium and problems?

The long term outcome from the devastation and poor planning which occurred in Miami-Dade (including the way building "inspections" were conducted), resulted in a better system Mr. Horses.

I do think Summers gets too wordy when he presents. But getting ahead of the curve makes getting the reimbursement needed for doing the job right. To get money from FEMA, you have to have your ducks in a row. He has got that right on.

Why do you think Crist did the same thing for Hanna? and now Ike? Bottom line, it is the bottom line here. Once the declaration is in place the rest of the system is primed to operate. Shelters open faster, assets can be deployed more efficiently.

Just where were you in Miami six? In Kendall or Homestead? Did you assist the recovery in any way? Were you just there? Did you work for any local, state or federal agency working to help the people who truly suffered? Did you go to Mississippi? NOLA after Katrina?

Summers came to us from N.C., I believe and he lead teams there to help that area recover from their disasters. He has a great record and leads a solid team, here.

You CAN declare a state of emergency after an event. However, if you wait...as others have, the help and cash are delayed too. And DON'T tell me that isn't true Six as I participated in the recovery efforts as part of a team.

There were so many avoidable mistakes made because there was little coordination and the delays were exacerbated by this poor coordination. They needed to declare some of the relief/recovery efforts a disaster unto itself!

There were no shelters opened, no evacuations, nothing like this. It is a mechanism which is prudent.

Six...I think you would argue with your own hand if there was no one else!

I think he would argue with his hand too BTV,

Many people do not understand that the most efficient way to handle a situation like this is to declare an emergency early on. That kicks a great number of things into gear quickly if need be. It allows for approving overtime, purchasing supplies, opening shelters ect. These items can be accomplished without the normal bureaucratic approvals within a declared emergency.

It is mainly the first step in the process. It can be dropped easy enough if the threat passes.

I know it may look premature to enact this at this point but better safe than sorry. It would only have taken one good change of course of that storm to put us in the hot seat real quick.

My wife and I were out yesterday doing some shopping and we were in both Home Depot and Wal Mart. Neither place was busy at all. I did not see any mass panic.

I think most people are intelligent enough to figure what the difference is between a declared emergency and a real emergency situation.

This is CYA Politics at its worst. Summers ought to be fired and this paper ought to be condemned. When and if a big big storm really does hit, NO ONE will listen to these boobs. What A Disgrace!

IF you really were where you say you were Mr. Six, then you know what a cluster fark it was.

As a result of this mess and the mess which followed Katrina, "let's just say" that the folks who interface with FEMA have gotten their priorities set so assets don't go to other spots and cash can be moved to cover deployment. Can't pay for rental equipment with pocket change.

So have fun calling for a lynching. Best go after Crist, then too...And even LEE county officials for having their EOC activated.

As for Collier County calling a state of emergency, that is their decision and they must deal with it. They must do what they feel is right for the good of the community. I don't question their actions. I only question mine.

As for me, I follow the storms on my own (Oh I'm a big girl) at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ and make my own personal decisions in which way to prepare. Preparation is the beginning to a safe plan.

Canned goods, checking my generator, filling up my gas tanks, batteries, and naturally water. These precautions are just that!! Preparation!! And everyone should create your own preparations, whether it be to stock up, make sure you have your window coverings, etc., and water (and remember water does have a shelf life) or simply ignore the storms. Your life is in your own hands, not the county! So you need to make your own choice of which way to proceed.

For me, it's simply to prepare and not to panick.

Now panicking is just another waste of energy in not being prepared. I don't have the time or energy to waste my breathe but the bottom line is that I am prepared.

I hope you all make the correct/right decision, regardless of what the County chooses.

By the way ... Thank You Fema for making that extra trip on Saturday to pick up my yard waste, as we were hit very hard by Fay. Plus thank you for that follow up call on Sunday to make sure it was picked up. We salute you!

"GeorgeJetson...Get with it !!!"

With what? I would compare my preparedness with yours anytime.

CutthroatLiberal: LMAO.

Ryu, I believe that six white horses is our old buddy attila/YeOldeNaples.

At least his posts are just like those from the other names were. Bait the other posters to start and argument. Then proclaim how superior his intelligence is to all us local yokels as he likes to refer to us by.

Best thing for everyone to do is just ignore him, don't let him engage you in his banter. If he wants to make post here fine, he is entitled to speak his mind. But once he has done that just let it go.

I find most of the bloggers here interesting to read. I do not agree with all of them but I still enjoy reading what they have to say.

I am open to a good debate if it is just that not someone telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about. And I will not partake in the nasty blogging such as took place during the recent sheriff's race.

There have been many times that other bloggers have changed my mind on a subject after reading their arguments on the situation. I am open to learning new things, but not to be preached at.