Need some ice?

From the Sun-Sentinel-

MIAMI -- Truckloads of ice cubes intended for hurricane relief use are giving Florida emergency managers a big chill.

The Florida State Emergency Response Team has $1.8 million worth of ice cubes, enough to fill 225 trucks, sitting in cold storage in Bartow and Jacksonville. The bill for monthly storage at minus 10 degrees -- approximately $90,000, according to state emergency management spokesman Mike Stone.

The ice was supposed to be for emergency use, but a mild hurricane season made that unnecessary, Stone said.

Mild? Hurricanes were non-existent this year for Florida. We instead had this overblown story.

225 trucks of ice? Are we discussing 18 wheelers? How much does it all that ice weigh? Hey I'm a Florida taxpayer wanting answers.(And expecting none)

Now, the agency is looking for organizations who want to take a load of the ice. But, the window of opportunity to use the ice is evaporating, and dispensing the ice is a slippery challenge.

Like most consumables, the ice has an expiration date. It will go bad if not used by around June 2007, the start of the next hurricane season, Stone said. Moreover, it is packaged in pallets containing about 360 bags each. To take the ice off the emergency managers' hands, organizations have to commit to at least that amount and be approved nonprofits or local governments, Stone said.

The surplus will not happen again next year. State emergency preparedness officials will no longer be in the ice storage business, Stone said. Instead, contracts with private suppliers across the state will allow Florida to have sufficient quantities available through hurricane season.

What happens if no one steps forward to take a chunk of the ice?

``Eventually if no one takes it we will have to recycle it back out,'' Stone said. ``Essentially, it is water.''He said he was not sure yet how the ice would be recycled.

I'd think melting would have something to do with it. As I always say, you got to love Florida.

Linked to- Bright and Early, Is it just me?