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Who You Gonna Call When The Emergency Managers Run Out Of Cream Cheese?

Rowan Moore Gerety
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WLRN
Adrienne Britto, left, administrative director for the emergency operations division of Broward County, checks in on a Play-Doh party underway at the Emergency Operations Center.

Nearly 300 emergency management personnel reported for duty at the Broward County Emergency Operations Center Thursday—all expecting hot meals and working air conditioning along with high-speed internet and a clean place to use the bathroom.

There’s a whole team that contributes to that effort. The woman in charge is Adrienne Britto, who walks the floors with a green blouse and a keen eye for detail.

Related: Lonely, Curious, Anxious, Angry: Broward 311 Operators Hear The Emotion Before The Storm

“I’m like a shark," Britto says, “moving from floor to floor, making sure that if there are any needs, the needs are being met. You can’t just sit in an office and do this job— it just doesn’t work that way.” 

Essentially when we are fully activated, I'm kind of coordinating a small city. —Adrienne Britto

Most of the year, Britto wears what she calls her “blue sky cap.” She writes grants and quarterly reports and pays the bills for Broward County’s Emergency Operations Division.

“Gray sky cap?” she says, eyebrow raised, “that’s a different story. I still have to do some of the administrative things, but essentially when we are fully activated, I’m kind of coordinating a small city.” 

Credit Rowan Moore Gerety / WLRN
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WLRN
A note left on an office door at the Broward County Emergency Operations Center in the midst of a 24-hour shift.

The Emergency Operations Center is a windowless, three-story block of concrete built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. With the pantry full and the generator fuel topped off, Britto says the center can run on its own for close to a week. Not today though: “Chef did not have enough butter or cream cheese, so I made a run out to the local grocery store and cleaned them out,” Britto says. “So, other duties as required.”

There’s a place to sleep, a small health clinic staffed by paramedics and a shower room that had to be cleared of cobwebs before Hurricane Matthew approached: While the center remains active year round, the last time it was fully activated for a sustained period was for Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

At the time, Britto was based here but working for a different county agency. “The bathrooms were not usable, let’s just say, and that created a lot of problems,” she says. “Just think about it: If you have over 200 people in here and the potties are not working, that’s a problem!” 

Credit Rowan Moore Gerety / WLRN
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WLRN
Pizza, chicken casserole, Greek salad and donuts: the chow line at the Broward County Emergency Operations Center during Hurricane Matthew

Britto pokes her head into the “dependents' room,” where emergency staff can leave their kids while they work. “Hello! Are you having a good time in here?” Teen-agers nap on the far side of the room. At a table by the door, a trio of children looks up from glow-in-the dark Play-Doh they are busily sculpting into stick figures. When this reporter offers a note of encouragement— “good luck with your glow-in-the dark man”—a correction is quick to follow: “It’s a girl!” a young lady shouts.

Britto moves on to the next room.

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