USA: trapped in Irma’s path

As Florida state and local officials urge South Florida residents to evacuate before Hurricane Irma makes landfall there Sunday morning, nearly 4,500 inmates inside facilities in evacuation zones have not been moved.

The Florida Department of Corrections evacuated dozens of prisons on Thursday and Friday, but federal, state and local officials have left inmates at facilities in the Miami-Dade county’s most vulnerable areas.

“I’ve been getting some calls from inmates, but none of them have been told anything,” said an attorney with Miami-Dade’s public defender office who requested anonymity for fear of being reprimanded for speaking to the media. “Family members of the clients are in the dark.”

Miami’s federal prison, one county jail, and two state prisons are all located in Zone B of Miami’s storm surge planning map. The largest facility is the federal prison in downtown Miami with 1,316 inmates. The county jail near Marlins Park has 1,064 inmates. The two state facilities located near Homestead have nearly 2,000 inmates combined.

On Thursday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued evacuation orders for residents in Zones A, B and C, but so far these four prison and jail facilities in Zone B have not been evacuated.

“The evacuation is very thoughtfully done to get those inmates into the safest facilities we have for them,” said Florida Department of Corrections spokesperson Michelle Glady.

In addition to inmates, Miami-Dade public defenders interviewed by VICE News say there are around 700 people on house arrest with ankle monitors in Miami-Dade county, and many are confused about whether or not to evacuate.

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