Under the leadership of Governor Charlie Crist, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been designated the lead state agency for responding to potential impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill along Florida’s shoreline. Together, DEP and the State Emergency Response Team are actively coordinating with other federal, state, and local agencies in response to the incident.

To safeguard the health of Florida’s residents and resources, DEP and other partners are carefully monitoring air and water quality along Florida’s Gulf Coast.  Baseline monitoring was completed in Northwest Florida prior to oil entering the region and is underway or has been completed along the remainder of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

StormSmart Coasts an excellent resource for Gulf Communities.

StormSmart Coasts Network Website

June 1, 2010 – Released just in time for storm season, the StormSmart Coasts website equips Gulf residents and decision makers with the latest and best information addressing severe weather.

StormSmart Coasts (www.stormsmartcoasts.org) identifies what should be done before, during, and after a storm. The website provides state specific, in-depth information about potential hazards, how to minimize risks, improve emergency response and more. State and local emergency contacts lists are available. StormSmart Coasts also provides instruction on uniting your community in tackling the challenge of clean-up after a storm.

~Community meetings promote resilient coastal communities~

A desire to improve coastal community resilience – a community’s capacity to withstand and recover from coastal hazards, like hurricanes – drew over 30 community members and decision makers to meetings sponsored by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance in cooperation with the Town of Fort Myers Beach, the City of Marco Island, the City of Sarasota, Cedar Key and Steinhatchee, Florida.

Recent community resilience meetings in Florida brought local leaders together to complete the Resilience Index, an assessment tool that helps communities identify their strengths and weaknesses to coastal hazards. Addressing critical facilities and infrastructure, transportation issues, community plans and agreements, mitigation measures, business and evacuation plans, the Resilience Index gives community leaders an opportunity to proactively respond to local resilience issues and therefore minimize unnecessary damage during the next hazardous event.