Recognizing the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the New Monroe County Emergency Operations Center

Floor Speech

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Mr. GIMENEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate today's groundbreaking of the new Monroe County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). This center, which combines several existing emergency organizations in one 28,321-square-foot space, will greatly assist county officials in the Florida Keys to prepare for future natural disasters in our resilient community.

Monroe County's EOC previously occupied the top floor of the Marathon Government Center. In 2017, Hurricane Irma forced EOC staff to evacuate the center just one day before it made landfall 30 miles west of Marathon, due to its lack of protections for Category 3 and above hurricanes.

The new EOC's features include a 20-foot first floor elevation, Category-5 hurricane-hardened walls, self-sustaining drinking water for up to 72 hours, and emergency power and communications systems. In addition, the location, at the west end of Marathon International Airport, is highly strategic. If Overseas Highway becomes unusable, the EOC will be able to quickly facilitate the dispersal of aid coming in through the airfield. This critical infrastructure will improve the county's emergency response capacity and ensures Monroe County will have the necessary tools to maintain resiliency and preparedness when natural disasters impact our coast. I am proud that the state and federal governments assisted the county in securing $30.2 million of the necessary funds to commence the project.

South Florida's residents face extreme weather every year, and improving hurricane resiliency is paramount. This long-overdue facility--Monroe County's first dedicated emergency operations center-- will act as the crucial hub for all future emergency responses. As a lifelong first responder who served as Fire Chief of the City of Miami Fire Department during Hurricane Andrew and Mayor of Miami-Dade County for nine years, I know firsthand how important a rapid and effective disaster response is. I applaud all the individuals and agencies who worked hard to make this center a reality, and I look forward to the speedy completion of the project.

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