Need to know if your home is in a declared hurricane evacuation zone, where the nearest evacuation center is located, and where the closest emergency bus pickup to open shelters will be? There’s now an app for that.

Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava today announced that the READY Miami-Dade mobile application is now available, just in time for the beginning of hurricane season. The app will provide real-time information for Miami-Dade residents during emergency situations of all sorts and is free to download via Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

There are seven primary categories of critical information provided on the app for before, during, and after a storm: evacuation orders, evacuation zones, evacuation centers, emergency bus routes and pickup locations, a direct connection to the County 311 center, top things you need to know during the emergency situation, hurricane recovery resources, and digital access to the complete 2018 Hurricane Guide.

“Having rapid and accurate information during an emergency situation is crucial to the life, health and safety of our residents and visitors,” said Commissioner Levine Cava. “The creation of this new mobile app will help us provide critical information before, during and after our next big storm or for other potential emergencies.”

The close call of Hurricane Irma last year gave our community an opportunity to evaluate what worked and what needed improvement. Commissioner Levine Cava worked with residents and Emergency Managers in assessing how we could be better prepared and respond more effectively in the future. The Commissioner’s Hurricane Irma after-action report, issued in November 2017, included a recommendation to create a real-time hurricane / emergency app as a way to overcome the communications challenges that can overwhelm the County’s 311 phone center and website during a hurricane.

Commissioner Levine Cava sponsored a number of resolutions specifically designed to strengthen the communications systems that the public depends on leading up to, during and recovering from a major storm event. The legislation directing the County to take the necessary steps to develop a free mobile application for use during emergencies was adopted unanimously by the Board of County Commissioners on December 5, 2017.