(ANTIMEDIA) Miami-Dade County, FL — At a time when South Floridians rocked by Hurricane Irma has been nonetheless surveying the harm to their properties, the county of Miami-Dade apparently believed it suitable to commence handing out security notices.
Celso Perez told local WSVN-Television that he, his household, and his neighbors have been beginning to clear fallen trees from the streets right after the storm passed by means of at nine in the morning on Monday. Hours later, in the afternoon, Perez got a go-to from the county.
“And we believed he was right here to assist us or present some kind of help with the trees, perhaps he was going to bring us ice or a thing,” Perez told WSVN. Instead, the official slapped a security notice on the only aspect of Perez’s fence nonetheless standing.
“I laughed,” he stated. “I believed he was kidding. ‘You are kidding ideal? We just had a hurricane six hours ago.’ ‘No, I’m not kidding. I have to cite you for this.’ I just laughed. OK, what ever knock oneself out!”
But Perez stopped laughing when the official told him he would be writing up a report and would be back to verify on the home. Perez told WSVN that the man stated he’d “have to create me a fine” if the fence wasn’t up to code by then.
“At the time this officer was out right here, we didn’t have energy, we didn’t have meals, we didn’t have ice. He is crazy, ridiculous,” Perez stated, adding that “it’s not like I can go to Home Depot” because all the shops have been closed.
The South Floridian says he understands that there is a lot of performing that requires to be completed but that the county’s rush to concern warnings was inappropriate:
“Give us a minute to breathe. Let us get our energy back on. And I wouldn’t thoughts if they told me that a couple of days down the line or due time but it bothers me that they came out right here just a couple of hours right after the storm had passed.”
On the concern of restoring energy, Reason noted that at the time Miami-Dade was handing out citations — the WSVN investigation found Perez was far from alone the county handed out 680 pool barrier and 177 electrical hazard notices in the hours right after Irma — 16,510 properties and firms have been nonetheless without energy.
When Reason tried to confirm with Miami-Dade if monetary fines would be attached to citations, the county responded with the following statement:
“We have been hunting to advise residents of the following hazards on their properties that they may perhaps not have been conscious of, but that pose a life security threat: broken structures that rendered them unsafe, unsecured pools with no barriers, electrical hazards (down lines, broken meters) and gas hazards (broken meters). If any of these hazards have been located, our inspectors gave out a security notice, which is neither a notice of violation warning nor a citation. That suggests there is no fine attached. The security notices provided to home owners recognize the hazard, actions that need to be taken to right the hazard, and who to speak to for further info.”
Fine or no, WSVN’s legal specialist and Broward County public defender, Howard Finkelstein, said the timing was “awful” for the men and women attempting to recover:
“This is outrageous. After Irma, men and women have been stressed, they have been worried and for a government official to slap a warning notice on them to add to their misery is insulting.”
