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Tropical Storm Debby SPOTREP #1

August 4, 2024

Healthcare Ready is MONITORING for this event. We are monitoring potential concerns for supply chain disruptions and impacts on healthcare services on our Alert Hub.

Contents

• Situation Overview
• Potential Impacts to Health Care
• Supply Chain and Logistics

Situation Overview

• As of Sunday, August 4, Tropical Storm Debby is located off the southwest coast of Florida. It is expected to develop into a hurricane by tonight before it reaches Florida’s coastline on Monday morning. Based on the trajectory of the storm, it looks like it will slowly move across northern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina over the week however the storm’s actual position may shift significantly.
  • Heavy rainfall is expected through Friday across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Significant river, flash, and urban flooding are likely to occur.
• As of August 2, Florida issued Executive Order 24-157, declaring a state of emergency for 61 counties and allows state officials to make critical resources available to any potential communities that might be impacted by the storm.
• As of August 3, Governor Kemp declared a state of emergency for all 159 counties in Georgia. The State Operations Center (SOC) will elevate to full-scale activation today and will continue to monitor the storm and assist local emergency management agencies when necessary.
• As of August 3, Governor McMaster issued Executive Order 2024-15, answering Florida’s request for emergency assistance to prepare for Tropical Storm Debby. The South Carolina National Guard will activate 70 service members, deploy 30 high-water vehicles, and provide additional resources as needed.

Potential Impacts to Health Care

• Based on the HHS emPOWER Map, which displays the total number of at-risk electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries, Florida has over five million Medicare beneficiaries – the second most in the US – with 195,065 being at-risk beneficiaries.
  • Georgia has 1.9 million Medicare beneficiaries with 93,498 being at-risk beneficiaries.
  • South Carolina has 1.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with 52,507 being at-risk beneficiaries.
    • At-risk beneficiaries are people that rely on certain essential health care services and electricity-dependent durable medical equipment, so it’ll be important to monitor the impacts of Tropical Storm Debby.

Supply Chain and Logistics

• As of August 3, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) authorized emergency response vehicles to bypass all FDOT weigh station facilities through August 16 to expedite emergency response.
  • The authorization does not include vehicles that require permits to operate on Florida’s roadways.
• On August 2, FDOT issued a letter to suspend the size and weight restrictions for divisible loads on any vehicles transporting emergency equipment, services, supplies, personnel, or FEMA mobile homes.
  • The maximum weight, height, length, and width requirements can be found in the Emergency Road Use Permit Letter.
• Re-entry Procedures
  • Florida
    • When an area is determined safe enough to return to, individuals and businesses seeking to provide essential commodities and services will be allowed reentry by presenting the following to local officials:
      • A valid government-issued ID (driver’s license or passport)
      • Proof of employment
      • Demonstrated need to enter the area (work order, inventory list, employer authorization)
    • Georgia
      • There is a phased approach to re-entry for areas that might be affected. Initially, re-entry access will be limited to entities in life safety, mitigation of hazardous conditions, and critical infrastructure restoration.
      • Businesses wishing to seek re-entry access will be required to apply for a re-entry permit through the state.
    • South Carolina
      • Businesses must apply for re-entry certification here.
        • The application process should take less than five minutes and once complete, the business will receive a memorandum of agreement (MOA) which is valid for three years.
        • Only one registration is required for businesses with multiple locations and employees.
      • Paper copy of the signed and completed MOA serves as the re-entry certification.
      • Local public safety officials can still deny individuals to an area deemed unsafe. The South Carolina business re-entry certification does not supersede county and local re-entry programs.

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