As Hurricane Matthew Approached, a City Manager in Florida Took to Facebook
Hurricane Matthew will impact Florida's Atlantic coast John Bazemore / AP Photo
When it comes to communicating with residents, “for us it’s become very important,” says Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker.
The queries people posted on the Satellite Beach city manager’s Facebook page were motley as Hurricane Matthew hurtled toward the barrier island community on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
“What about parrots? Can we bring our parrots?” one person wrote Thursday, asking about storm shelter accommodations. “Checking now...stand by,” City Manager Courtney Barker replied within minutes. Just under an hour later, she followed up: “Yes, you can bring parrots.”
Earlier in the day, someone else wrote: “Do you know when bridges will reopen after the storm passes for residents to check on their homes?”
“We cannot give you an exact time, but after it is safe for public works to clear roadways and the roadways are deemed safe, we will let people back in,” the city manager responded.
Wednesday at 5:01 p.m., another Facebook user inquired: “Some one [sic] in Walgreens said the water would be turned off tonight at 8. That's not accurate is it?”
Two minutes later, at 5:03 p.m., came a reply: “We are working on that rumor right now and will let you know as soon as we do.”
And by 5:28 p.m. Barker supplied more information.
“The Fire Chief just explained to me that the City of Melbourne will likely shut of [sic] the pumps and rely on the water tower for water pressure. Therefore, your water will stay on, but with some reduced pressure. I am trying to confirm now.”
That’s how it went. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Using the Facebook page, Barker fielded questions, posted storm-related updates and urged people to evacuate from the city. “LEAVE THE ISLAND! No excuses! We have emergency shelters open and ready for your arrival,” one of her posts admonished Thursday as Matthew neared Florida.
During a phone interview Wednesday Barker said she’d created the City of Satellite Beach City Manager Facebook page after she took the city manager position about three years ago.
“I wanted to get out there and communicate,” she said.
“For us it’s become very important,” Barker added, referring to the page. “That’s primarily what people look at now.”
Barker said she authors all of her own posts for the page, except on very rare occasions when her assistant steps in to lend a hand.
In addition to helping keep residents informed, the page has aided the city as well, Barker explained.
With it online people are less apt to flood city phone lines seeking information during an emergency event. “It’s actually been a lifesaver in that regard, because I’ve been able to close City Hall earlier… to get our employees home,” she said.
With roughly 10,600 residents, Satellite Beach is about 15 miles south of Cape Canaveral, in an area known as Florida’s Space Coast, where NASA's Kennedy Space Center is also located. By Thursday afternoon, it looked as though Hurricane Matthew would deal the region a heavy blow.
But even as the storm loomed, people still took time to voice their appreciation for Barker’s efforts to share information over Facebook.
“Big thanks to our terrific city manager Courtney Harris Barker for keeping is [sic] updated with these timely and helpful FB posts,” one person commented on Thursday afternoon.
In a review of the Facebook page Wednesday another person wrote: “Thank you Courtney for doing such a great job. You keep us ‘in the know’ and in a very timely manner. And I love that you reply to those of us with questions. You rock!”
The City of Satellite Beach City Manager Facebook page can be found here.
Bill Lucia is a Reporter for Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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