PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida

Where Is The Hurricane Evacuation Plan For Thousands Of Migrant Children In Homestead Camp?

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Ellis Rua

On August 24, 1992, a monster storm howled through Homestead, buzz-sawing roofs, ripping out trees, smashing schools and scattering Homestead Air Force Base fighter jets like an overturned toy box.

If a repeat of Hurricane Andrew happens this storm season, which officially began last week, will Homestead be ready? Emergency planners certainly think so. What about the Homestead shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, which critics have derided as a glorified tent city? That’s less clear.

The camp — housing somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 minors, some as young as 13 — is set in the second  most vulnerable hurricane zone in coastal South Florida, an area that bore the full fury of Category 5 Hurricane Andrew, leaving it in utter ruin.

Read more at our news partner, The Miami Herald.

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Monique Madan