Mere hours after Hurricane Irma, Miami-Dade County was ticketing
residents for building code violations on their wrecked properties. Celso Perez was helping his neighbors remove some fallen trees
blocking their street when a county code enforcer rolled up and issued
him a safety notice for having a downed fence. "I laughed," Perez
tells WSVN-TV. "I thought he was kidding. 'You are kidding right? We just had a hurricane six hours ago.'" It wasn't a joke. The official told Perez that the downed
fence—which encloses a pool—was a safety hazard, and that if it wasn't
fixed by the time he returned, Perez would be hit with a fine. The
official then hung the safety citation on the portion of Perez's fence
that remained standing, leaving him and his neighbors to finish clearing
the debris from their street. According to WSVN, the county has handed out 680 safety notices for
downed pool barriers, and another 177 electrical hazard safety notices. As Perez said of the day he got his ticket, "All the stores were
closed. It's not like I can go to Home Depot and find some temporary
barrier." Even if he could, it's quite possible that Perez and the other people
handed citations might have more pressing things to do right after a
hurricane than bring their homes back up to code. You know: clearing the
streets, seeking medical attention, checking in on family members,
trying to find food. You might think the county would have higher
priorities too, like getting the lights back on for Miami-Dade's
16,510 homes and businesses still without power...
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