CITY OF MARATHON UPDATE: SEPT 14 @ NOON

CITY OF MARATHON UPDATE: SEPT 14 @ NOON - Marathon

Marathon City Manager Chuck Lindsey spoke live on Facebook at 11:30 a.m. this morning from The Weekly Newspaper and Florida Keys News (Keynoter) pages.

Here is a summary of his points:

“We have finally got some communications and right now wifi is all we have. We are hoping to have two phone lines today and one line will be dedicated for residents who wish to call in.

“Within 48 hours of Irma’s landfall, Marathon had its runway clear for critical supplies and roads clear so we could all get to our homes.

“Life safety remains our primary objective. Our Fire Department with Florida Task Force 1 have been going door to door and we hope to be complete by end of day. To date, the only fatalities we have found are the initial three reported right after the storm passed.

“I need to stress this — EVERYONE — the City, County, State and Federal agencies are working tirelessly to restore life services. Everyone is doing everything they can and everyone is doing a tremendous job.

 

“1. We have established a mobile hospital at city hall for county residents.

“2. The Florida Keys Electric Co-Op is working 24/7 to restore power to the main highway, and then will begin street by street service restoration. We still have a very dangerous condition with down power lines, poles and transformers.

“3. The Florida Keys Aqueduct is restoring water services but we have numerous leaks that are hindering flow so they are addressing them one by one. But we are optimistic that they can restore water within the next few days.

“4. Sewer has been inspected and repairs being conducted. We took moderate damage but we have the best crews. We will have the system ready as soon as water is available and system tests pass.

“5. Fuel is scare and very limited. One station in Marathon has opened so far but wasn’t open long.

 

RE-ENTRY

“Today we are beginning formal discussions on re-entry and to identify all hazards to our residents and the emergency management system to mitigate them before we can open the road. But we assure you we want our residents home and are doing everything we can to make it happen.

“We know this is the most important thing to all who are trying to get home. I don’t want to say a week and not meet your expectation. Instead, I want to give out as much information as I can:

  • Transmission lines remain down
  • Water is slowly being restored.
  • Hospital is closed and as residents come back we don’t have treatment facilities.
  • We have no sewer service.
  • We have no place to take garbage until the Long Key transfer station opens.

“The good news is that everyone here is creating miracles and things are moving fast. They Keys spirit is strong the efforts of our municipalities and our county are incredible. We are all receiving overwhelming support from our entire country. Emergency service and supplies are pouring in. While we are making huge strides to getting our wonderful city restored, there is no doubt that with all of your help that we will get through this and marathon will be better than ever.