FDC Continues to Respond to Hurricane Irma, Visitation Cancelled

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following the impact of Hurricane Irma, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is working to bring all facilities back to normal operations. Safety continues to be the primary mission of the Department as Wardens work to assess and repair effected institutions.

All FDC inmates and staff have ample food, water and secure conditions. Facilities across the state sustained damage and power outages similar to all Florida communities. Maintenance teams have been deployed statewide to begin to quickly work on repairs.

Last week FDC, in collaboration with our private partners, successfully evacuated more than 12,000 inmates. Evacuations occurred without incident and there were no storm related injuries or incidents to inmates. Institutions are working to return inmates to their original facilities as quickly and safely as possible. However, some inmates will remain at alternative locations until road conditions improve and facilities can undergo necessary repairs. Inmate locations continue to be posted on the website approximately 24-hours after relocation, per standard protocol.

Weekend visitation for all institutions for Saturday, September 16, and Sunday, September 17 has been cancelled. This cancellation includes all major institutions, annex facilities, work camps and work release centers.

The Department cancelled visitation statewide in an abundance of caution and in the best interest of staff, inmates and public safety. This decision was made in response to Hurricane Irma’s impact on Florida’s transportation infrastructure as well as the storm’s effect on operations at institutional facilities across the state.

FDC looks forward to resuming normal visitation as soon as possible.

Phone access is open at all facilities for officers and inmates. However, due to storm conditions, communications at many facilities continues to be impacted.

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