"People Are Going to Die": Hurricane Expert Sounds Alarm on Trump's Alligator Alcatraz
"It's a death trap," climate scientist Rebekah Jones tells us of the deadly threat a hurricane will pose to immigrant prisoners at controversial ICE prison. "Even a tropical storm" would be deadly.
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As central Texas continues to reel from devastating flooding that has killed at least 119 people—and President Trump and Governor Abbott dodge questions and responsibility for the role cuts to key national weather services played in failure to warn communities—a climate scientist and hurricane expert is sounding the alarm that the hastily-built ICE prison known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will result in deadly consequences.
“It’s a death trap,” Rebekah Jones, a climate scientist and hurricane expert told Status Coup about Alligator Alcatraz residing in the bullseye of Florida’s highest-risk region for hurricanes. Jones is no stranger to hurricanes; she worked for Florida on hurricane disaster responses and also served as Louisiana’s hurricane climatologist.
Jones, who became a whistleblower after being fired from Florida’s Department of Health for refusing to manipulate COVID-19 data, warned that the mostly outdoor tent prison will have deadly consequences.
“People are going to die and there’s no guarantee that anybody will tell us,” she vowed. The makeshift tent prison camp—for which undocumented immigrants are already experiencing inhumane conditions —would not be able to withstand a tropical storm much less a hurricane, Jones told Status Coup.
As she explained to yours truly (watch interview below), housing structures in South Florida have wind ratings that are supposed to be able to withstand Category 2 hurricane winds of 110 miles per hour. However, one week in, little is known about the hastily-built structures for which immigrants at Alligator Alcatraz are being housed under.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the ICE prisoners there are being housed in repurposed FEMA trailers and “soft-sided temporary facilities.”
Translated: the undocumented immigrants Trump, DeSantis and company have kidnapped have been dumped in wobbly trailers and makeshift tents.
Of those trailers and tents, there’s currently zero public information about the nature of the structures or the level of rain they can safely withstand. “None of this information is available on the state’s contracts sites to see who they bought these trailers from to check the wind rating,” Jones said.
Trailers in South Florida can be dangerous to reside in at wind speeds of 30 miles per hour; meaning a severe thunderstorm in this area, much less a hurricane, is potentially deadly.
This is key considering the Southwest Florida area in which Alligator Alcatraz resides has experienced 49 hurricanes throughout history—17 of which were Category 3 through 5.
“There are very few trailers, like actual structural trailers which are grounded, that are rated for 110 miles per hour,” Jones said. She added that the Southwest Florida area for which Alligator Alcatraz resides is in an A rating evacuation zone—the highest risk level for evacuation.
Beyond the catastrophic risk to prisoners of a tropical storm or hurricane, video has already shown flooding—immersed in electrical cords—inside the new ICE prison on a day that had an inch-and-a-half of rain. With the prison reportedly being erected in just eight days, and flooding already occurring, Jones warned an average thunderstorm could kill prisoners if electrical wires are exposed.
Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones, who was one of several Democratic politicians denied entry to Alligator Alcatraz last week, also shared safety concerns in an interview with Status Coup reporter Ashley Bishop.
Beyond the swarming mosquitoes, which one detainee described as “the size of elephants,” Jones expressed serious safety concerns given the flooding that has already occurred inside and record rains Florida is currently experiencing.
“Are those detainees that are there safe?” he posed to Status Coup in an interview in Miami, adding that the makeshift ICE prison is in the “middle of nowhere.” He also noted the extreme heat endangering prisoners (on Tuesday, the “feels like” heat index hit 105 degrees).
Jones, who was persecuted by the DeSantis administration after she blew the whistle on its manipulation of COVID-19 data, offered a grim forecast about the ICE prison in the heart of the Everglades.
“A swamp is the perfect place to dispose of bodies.”
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