For now, she said, the county wants to use only public buildings because of liability concerns over the use of private buildings, although the state does have the right to commandeer buildings and relieve their owners of liability in most cases. But, he said, these too would be considered if Martin was in the path of a storm. St. Lucie emergency managers, in cooperation with the school district, have lined up about nine schools that don't meet shelter standards, said Don Daniels, the county's emergency management coordinator. He said they would be opened on a staggered basis where and when managers begin blocking evacuation. The refuges, in place for about a decade, were opened during Andrew in 1992 and Georges in 1998 and some people used them, Wagner said.
People think they have safe haven.
We can't guarantee their safety. This is a last-ditch effort to save your life. The plan would be activated by emergency managers, either by their own decision or by order of the governor, only after they've determined evacuation has reached critical mass and people are in real danger of not getting off the highways. The decision would be based on the strength and speed of an approaching storm and how badly the evacuation has bottlenecked, and it probably would come hours before the storm's impact, Wetherington said. And, she said, by the time such refuges open, any workers or law enforcement officers probably will have already been pulled off the roads.