HURRICANE SEASON PREPAREDNESS EVENT

MAYOR CARLOS ALVAREZ JOINS
AMERICAN RED CROSS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR HOMELESS
FOR HURRICANE SEASON PREPAREDNESS EVENT


(MIAMI, June 2, 2006) - Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez was joined by Sam Tidwell, Chief Executive Office of the American Red Cross of Greater Miami & the Keys, and Robert E. Chisholm, Chairman of Community Partnership for Homeless for a hurricane preparedness event on June 1, 2006, the start of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, at the Community Partnership for Homeless, in Homestead.

"Even though Miami-Dade County is better prepared than ever to provide services to those residents and visitors in need before and after a hurricane strikes, government cannot do it all alone," said Mayor Alvarez. "We continue to urge residents to prepare their hurricane disaster kits and plan to be self sufficient for at least 72 hours following a storm."

The event showcased the combined efforts of Miami-Dade County, the American Red Cross and Community Partnership for Homeless. Because of cooperative agreements between the Red Cross, private vendors and organizations like Community Partnership for Homeless, these agencies are ready to prepare and serve up to 200,000 hot meals per day following a hurricane. Last year, the Community Partnership for Homeless prepared more than 125,000 meals which were delivered to hurricane victims.

With the assistance of the American Red Cross and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami-Dade County is also prepared to shelter more than 73,000 people at designated evacuation centers.

Displayed on site were some of the food stuffs that are used for meal preparation, as well as one of the Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV's) used to transport hot meals all over the county.

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(Photo by Rick Garcia)





OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

Stephen P. Clark Center

111 NW 1st Street, Miami, FL 33128

(305) 375-5071




 

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