Ahead of Hurricane Milton’s devastating landfall Wednesday evening, Millions of residents chose to leave. For about 1,200 inmates at the Manatee County Jail, which is located in a major evacuation zone near Sarasota, Florida, that wasn’t an option. The local authorities decide not to evacuate the prisoners so they embark on a stormy journey – which brings Extensive flooding, property damage, and high winds In the area — fishermen.
They were not alone. The Manatee County Jail was one of many that decided not to evacuate. According to the New York Times. Pinellas County And two others in Lee County, along the Gulf Coast that were in the storm’s direct path, also have not evacuated their jails, according to a Pinellas County news conference and a spokeswoman for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. (The Manatee County and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)
The plight of the Florida inmates is the latest example to highlight how vulnerable incarcerated people are during natural disasters, when they have no control over their mobility or exposure to dangerous situations.
as appeal And The Fort Myers News-Press reportedOfficials in Manatee, Pinellas, and Lee counties argued that they could move inmates to higher floors in case of flooding and storm surge. Manatee County officials also described the jail as “hurricane-rated,” while Pinellas County officials cited the logistical challenges of evacuating 3,100 inmates from the facility during the storm as justification for their decision.
The Lee County Jail was fully staffed and had water tanks on standby, according to the spokeswoman, who noted that all inmates were safe as of Thursday afternoon. The spokeswoman added that the main facility lost power during the storm, but there were no other “significant incidents”.
The Manatee Sheriff’s Office also said appeal As of Thursday, the inmates were “storm safe” and the power was going in and out, but they had not lost running water. The Pinellas Sheriff’s Office told the publication it does not have power and running water issues.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC), which oversees state prisons, says that “all staff and inmates in the path of Hurricane Milton have been accounted for,” in a Update It was posted Thursday morning. According to the DOC, it had moved 5,950 inmates from 37 facilities across the state to that point.
The DOC also said its public list of evacuation facilities has gaps and may be incomplete because it is updated 24 hours after inmates have already been transported. It told Vox that it weighs multiple risk factors when considering the move, including “storm path … timing, traffic disruptions, the risk of inmate evacuation and evacuation facility conditions.”
In total, more than 28,000 people are trapped in counties that had full or partial evacuation orders, and many have not been evacuated. Appeal Report.
Decisions not to evacuate certain facilities stand in stark contrast to regional leaders’ need to leave areas in the storm’s path and the “life or death” risks people face if they fail to do so. The Manatee County Jail, for example, is located in Evacuation Zone A, an area that faces a high flood risk.
“We do not issue evacuation orders lightly,” Manatee County Public Safety Director Jody Fisk said in an earlier news release. “Milton is expected to produce more storm surge than Helen. So, if you lived during Helen’s time and were lucky, I wouldn’t press my luck with this particular arrangement.”
Prisoners have some protections
Florida inmates are not forced to shelter in the first place during a severe hurricane. When Hurricane Helen hit last month, 550 men languished in flooded cells at the Mountain View Correctional Institution in North Carolina for five days without electricity or running water. Intercept report. There were hundreds of prisoners earlier abandoned Without food or water during Hurricane Katrina After the Orleans Parish Prison staff escaped.
Prisoners are often neglected in ensuring their safety during natural disasters, but they are often exploited for labor after the same situation. in Louisiana, Inmates led cleanup and recovery efforts after Hurricane Francine in September, and in California, they did key work. Fighting fires Although some of these jobs over the years have offered alternative paths to rehabilitation or allowed inmates to hone new skills, none come with the same labor protections in terms of safety or wages that other workers typically receive.
“The incarcerated population, they’re doubly vulnerable,” Corinne Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project, told Vox. “First, they are often ignored or willfully ignored … when disaster is approaching, and then they are expected to turn around and clean up the mess in the wake of the disaster.”
Federally, there are no requirements to ensure the safety of inmates during natural disasters, Kendrick told Vox. And while policies vary by state, A 2022 study published in the American Journal of Public Health It found that only six states specified security protocols for inmates in their emergency response details, while 24 specified their use of labor for disaster mitigation.
“That patchwork becomes even more complex when you get to the local level of jails because there is significant local control over how jails operate,” Mike Wessler, director of communications for the Prison Policy Initiative, told Vox.
And though there is one Supreme Court verdict That establishes a safety standard for inmates, experts say face an uphill battle after court cases on mistreatment are passed. Prison Litigation Reform Act of the 1990sThis made it more difficult for prisoners to file civil suits. Prisons and jails also have limited oversight at the federal or state level, so they often works With little regard for accountability.
As a result, incarcerated persons are particularly vulnerable to neglect and other abuses, in general and especially during natural disasters, which can endanger their health and their lives. During past disasters in Florida, like Hurricane Ian in 2022, inmates He described the lack of running waterWith lack of potable water as well as non-flushing toilets.
Kendrick and Wesler note that jails and prisons suffer from these increasingly common natural disasters as well as a failure to prepare. A massive lack of concern for the well-being of prisoners. For evacuations, these facilities need contracts with other facilities where they can transport detainees, transportation for large groups, fuel and other resources — proposals they must put in place in advance of an emergency.
As a baseline, states and counties should have policies that enforce mandatory evacuation orders for inmates, the same way they do for other non-incarcerated individuals, Kendrick said. (Although the government doesn’t force people to leave, it Technically invalid Stay in mandatory evacuation zones during storms.)
The federal government can condition disaster assistance to states based on their evacuation policies, in an effort to guarantee the safety of inmates, the attorney said. Maya Habash explains in the University of Maryland Law Journal. Federal laws such as the Stafford Act and the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, which require the government to provide resources to protect vulnerable populations, could also be amended to include references to prisoners to clarify that they should be recipients of the funding. And the federal government can establish clear mandates that outline how prison and jail inmates need to be treated during natural disasters.
“I think the federal government should set national standards for jails and prisons and emergency response, and they should be floors, not ceilings, of what places to do,” Wessler told Vox.
