Longboat leaders, Chamber of Commerce to hold disaster preparedness 'Zoominar'

Leaders from the town of Longboat Key and the Chamber of Commerce are holding their 18th annual Disaster Preparedness Meeting.

However, the 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 24 meeting will be held on Zoom as hurricane season is underway and the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing.

“It’s about an hour long,” Fire Chief Paul Dezzi said. “We’re able to answer questions residents may have pertaining to their complex, but I do think it’s important that we all understand that we do have an above-normal activity with the potential [of] four major hurricanes coming to the United States.

“Now, again, we don’t know where they’re going to be. We don’t know when they’re going to fall, but we want to make sure that all of you have implemented your plans for your residence.”

Several people are scheduled to speak at the “Zoominar,” including Dezzi, Deputy Police Chief Frank Rubino, Manatee County Emergency Management Chief Steve Litschauer, Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane and National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Noah.

During Dezzi’s weekly conference call on Thursday with town stakeholders, he said leaders in Manatee and Sarasota counties are still working out how much square footage each person will need in evacuation shelters because of social-distancing guidelines related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“They’re working with the Health Department on how they’re going to provide distancing, how people are entering into [the shelters] with temperature checks and questioning or those types of things,” Dezzi said.

Under normal circumstances, McCrane said 20 square feet is allowed per person in a shelter. Social-distancing guidelines could require spacing to rise to 60-100 square feet per person, which would cut capacity by about a third.

Dezzi said town and county leaders are still making preparations, which will be different than previous years because of the pandemic.

 Chamber of Commerce President Gail Loefgren said the June 24 “Zoominar” has a 500-person limit, but did not expect the virtual session to reach capacity. For anyone who can’t watch the virtual June 24 session live, town and chamber leaders are expected to record it.

Anyone wanting to attend the free Zoom webinar is asked to call the chamber office at (941)383-2466 or send an email to [email protected].