Broward to expedite permits for businesses to install emergency generators.

Hoping to ensure residents don't have to wait days to buy groceries or other necessities after a hurricane, Broward County officials will expedite permits that retailers need to install backup-power generators.The move Tuesday by county commissioners came in response to an announcement this month by Publix Super Markets that it wants to install generators throughout South Florida to avoid a repeat of long lines and food shortages that occurred after Hurricane Wilma last year.

The county also is planning to design a standard sign that businesses with backup generators can post to let people know they likely will reopen quickly after a storm. And in May, the county will launch a massive education campaign, including a hurricane guide mailed to every household, to warn people they need to be better prepared."We are trying to get this community hurricane ready," said Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, who was mayor in 2004 during hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. "We are in a cycle of increased activity where storms could be an every-year occurrence and people and businesses need to be ready for that."Although the county has direct control over building codes only in unincorporated areas, many cities contract with its Building Code Services Division to handle their permitting. Commissioners said their staff would speed up permits in those communities and that their environmental protection staff would expedite fuel storage tank permits that also would be needed.Publix executives pleaded for local governments to take such steps when they unveiled their plan to install 400 stationary and mobile generators at stores in hurricane-prone areas, including 72 in Broward. Miami-Dade County already has committed to speeding up permits.County officials hope if they can encourage more businesses to install generators, there will be less reliance on the county to set up government-run distribution sites for water, ice and food.Although the start of hurricane season is just two months off, Broward Emergency Management Director Tony Carper said he thought stores could be ready for the height of the season."Hopefully, we can start up this year and get some headway and be full blown by next year," he said.The county will design and distribute an easily identifiable sign for those businesses that install generators. Commissioners said the signage would be an incentive for businesses to act and would help residents locate where to go.Commissioners set aside $143,000 to mail a tabloid with hurricane preparedness information to all 760,000 Broward households in May. Their staff is also planning to reconfigure the county Web site, broward.org, to include more hurricane information. And, they plan to offer an alert system in which they send storm advisories to residents via e-mail.In another hurricane-related move, the county agreed to allow the 211 First Call for Help service to operate out of its Emergency Operations Center in Plantation. The service offers counseling and health-related assistance to those who dial 211.Carper said the county will not be able to change its own hurricane hotline number to 311 this year to match Miami-Dade County's. Some residents dialed 311 rather than Broward's 954-831-4000 number during Wilma, but 311 in Broward is a backup number controlled by the Sheriff's Office.