24-hour curfew after hurricanes?

Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson is proposing just that. The idea behind the curfew is to keep roads clear for emergency services, electrical workers and cleanup crews. Only members of the public in emergency situations would be allowed on the roads.

I truthfully think its a good idea. Since 2004, I been through three hurricanes, as soon as the weather clears people take to the roads. Its mostly unnecessary, because who is open then? People are sight-seeing and TFM confesses to being guilty of the same. Dear Wife and I have gone out and checked on friends and neighbors and their neighborhoods, plus our workplaces. To be truthful none of its necessary.

The curfew law would have to be rather specific and I'll tell you why. As soon as the weather clears, people myself included go outside to clean up our lawns and begin any repairs that are needed. Are people working outside their house or in their neighborhood subject to this law. Read this post of mine, after Wilma my neighborhood worked together to clear debris or pick up fences etc. Would we be breaking the law now?

A carefully written curfew law would be a good idea.

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Cabin fever is a common ailment brought on by the nighttime curfews that follow hurricanes.

But a 24-hour countywide curfew after a storm makes landfall sounds like a good idea to Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson.

Aaronson talked about the idea at a meeting recently before three of south county's largest community groups, along with representatives from the sheriff's office, fire rescue and county government.

A daylong curfew would clear the way for electricity and cleanup crews, and allow police and fire rescue workers to respond to emergency calls instead of guarding gas stations and directing traffic at intersections, Aaronson said.

"Maybe, overall, a 24-hour curfew on driving, unless it's an emergency, may be a very beneficial thing," Aaronson said Wednesday. "We're looking into that to see whether or not this would be a good thing to do."

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw acknowledged Wednesday that the proposal is being studied.

The idea, Bradshaw said, would be to announce such a curfew before major hurricane strikes, while power is still on and residents can get the message.

"It's not something that you do automatically," Bradshaw said. "It just makes logistical sense if you know you're going to have a severe storm. It all depends on the severity of the storm, how close it's going to come."

County Administrator Bob Weisman said a 24-hour curfew is "not something one does lightly."

"I would rather think nothing that terrible would ever happen" to require advance notice of a 24-hour curfew, he said.

Getting the cities, fire departments and police departments to agree will be the biggest challenge.

After Hurricane Wilma in October, representatives from the 37 cities, county officials and various emergency officials met daily to discuss the night's curfew hours.

The initial post-Wilma curfew, 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., was enforced countywide. Later, the county was divided into three areas — south and north of Southern Boulevard, and the Lake Okeechobee region — which were given different curfews.

Officials said the curfew schedule was a success, with the sheriff's office reporting 340 curfew-related arrests and no serious nighttime incidents.

Cities and towns in Mississippi and Louisiana devastated by Hurricane Katrina last year employed 24-hour curfews. The towns of Palm Beach and South Palm Beach, along with Indian River and St. Lucie counties, did the same after 2004's Hurricane Frances.

Leaders of the West Boca Community Council, Delray Alliance and Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations listened to Aaronson's curfew idea and other hurricane preparation plans.

"We felt that it was a wise thing to do," said Delray Alliance President Bob Schulbaum. "It would make the roads available to all the critical services — medical, fire rescue, police vehicles."

There's no need to be on the road after a storm, said Sheri Scarborough, president of the West Boca Community Council.

"Everybody's just going out sightseeing," she said.