Why is DeSantis battling Mickey Mouse, instead of fighting to keep us safe from hurricanes? | Opinion

In nearly a century, Florida has not suffered a hurricane disaster like last year’s Hurricane Ian. The 149 people who died, mostly from drowning, are the most hurricane deaths in Florida since the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, well before the many scientific advancements we now take for granted; before predictive meteorological technologies; before cell phones and connected communication networks; before a robust highway system; before stronger building codes; and before a century of experience in, well, hurricanes.

Yet 149 people died. Many in their homes, swallowed by the sea. Others were unable to outrun the rising waters. Still others because they were injured, but medical care was unable to reach them in time.

Within hours of the hurricane ravaging our state, and before any real analysis or review, Gov. DeSantis fully defended government evacuation decisions by simply repeating the mantra that local and state emergency managers “followed the data.”

Many, like me, wondered if this was really the best we could do? Was the loss of 149 lives truly inevitable?

When pressed, DeSantis promised an after-action review of Hurricane Ian’s response. That made sense, not because we need to place blame, but because we need to know how to do better. Any review should not diminish in any way the first responders and emergency-management personnel who worked so hard, often heroically in the midst of the storm, nor the immediate post-storm efforts, as it seems clear the local, state and federal authorities got it right by delivering aid and assistance quickly.

Yet, here we are, eight months later, and the state of Florida has yet to issue the after-action report promised by the governor or suggested reforms that might help us better identify shortfalls and implement corrections to help navigate a similar peril in the upcoming hurricane season. And to make matters even worse, the Florida Department of Emergency Management just canceled its annual emergency management training exercise that typically is held in the run-up to storm season.

As the mayor of a barrier island sitting at sea level on the Florida coast, I think we need some obvious questions authoritatively answered, especially with our next hurricane season just weeks away.

▪ Why was there such disparity in county decisions to evacuate? Lee County, for instance, where nearly half of the deaths occurred during Ian, waited a day after neighboring Charlotte County issued its evacuation order. What role did or should the state play in decision making?

▪ Do we need to revisit our protocols for evacuation? Are we making the decision to evacuate too close to a storm’s arrival, especially in areas that include barrier islands that sit at sea level?

▪ Did we do enough to properly message and communicate to those in harm’s way? So many in Florida are new arrivals who have never experienced the power of a Category 3 or higher storm and, likely, need to receive better guidance.

▪ Too many of the dead were the vulnerable elderly, who might have had challenges that come with age or infirmity. Have we implemented sufficient plans to evacuate those with special needs and those in hospitals?

▪ While decisions to evacuate typically rest with counties, the governor and his emergency-management team are still the de facto leaders of disasters. Did they adequately make clear the necessity of evacuation?

▪ Are we prepared for a similar incident on the Southeast coast where the challenges and potential peril are even greater due to a substantially larger population than the areas impacted by Hurricane Ian?

How has this not been the focus of our state government in the aftermath of such an extraordinary loss of life? In the immediate wake of Hurricane Andrew, Gov. Lawton Chiles and the Florida Legislature commenced major revisions to the state’s building codes to protect our lives and created catastrophic funds to protect our property. Within weeks after 9-11, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature led a top-to-bottom overhaul of Florida’s anti-terrorism efforts. By the way, both efforts were entirely bipartisan.

Since Hurricane Ian, the governor and the Florida Legislature have spent way more time “protecting” Floridians from drag queens, pronouns and Mickey Mouse than addressing what went wrong in Florida’s deadliest hurricane in nearly a century. This is unfortunate considering that weather events are only getting more extreme.

Despite the absence of state action, my city will do what we must to prepare. With the leadership of Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, we will participate in exercises next month to ready ourselves for the evolving nature of this challenge. We will seek to learn lessons from Hurricane Ian, because our residents should expect nothing less.

The sad truth is that 149 souls should not be lost to a slow-moving hurricane. Acting as though the deaths caused by Hurricane Ian were inevitable does a disservice to those who perished. Declining to conduct a comprehensive review, unfortunately, hamstrings efforts to better prepare for the next one.

Dan Gelber is the mayor of Miami Beach.