Oh hey, Broward County. If there are sudden whispers in your office about a possible deadly chemical leak or some other man-made terror disaster, it's only a rumor. So no need to hide under your desk.
The Port Everglades Department and Emergency Management Division are conducting a "weapons of mass destruction" full-scale security exercise at the Port today.
Fun!
The exercise, aptly called "Operation Resilient Response," is to test the response capabilities of the agencies taking part in the drill if, for example, some dillhole decided to drop a WMD in our waters.
A countywide emergency response to a deadly chemical leaking from a container at one of the Florida International Terminals inside Port Everglades will be simulated.
Those who work the docks at the port have been invited to play along and pretend to be victims of the chemical leak because, well, if this happened in real life, they would be victims of the chemical leak.
This drill is taking place inside the secure area of the port, which requires government-issued photo identification, such as a valid driver's license or passport. NO TERRORISTS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE TERRORIST DRILL!
We kid, of course.
It's important, we guess.
More than 100 maritime and emergency response professionals are participating, including Broward County Emergency Management, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Florida National Guard, Broward Sheriff's Office, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue, City of Hollywood Police and Fire Departments, American Red Cross and several regional health care and law enforcement agencies.
The exercise is funded through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Port Security Grant Program.
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