West Palm Beach • If disastrous flooding hits the Glades communities - the result of a break in the Herbert Hoover Dike or a powerful hurricane - the federal, state and county governments plan to be ready with a coordinated response.

Palm Beach County already has a draft of its response plan. Coordinating a regional evacuation plan among all agencies for the Lake Okeechobee area was the goal of a daylong session Thursday among federal and state officials and representatives of eight Florida counties.

The unified plan should be ready by February and could be put to a rehearsal in May, officials said.

"As the [lake's] water level goes higher and a large storm approaches, the threat level goes up," said David Halstead, chief of the Bureau of Preparedness and Response for the State Emergency Response Team, who is overseeing the entire operation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last month that it would spend almost $4 million to help the region against a catastrophe to the dike. The funding includes a preparedness study that is to start next year. Among the scenarios is a Category 5 hurricane hitting Miami, officials said.

Palm Beach, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Okeechobee, Martin, Broward and Miami-Dade counties had representatives at Thursday's session. Broward and Miami-Dade intend to plan for search-and-rescue situations.

"One of the most surprising things we learned is there was not an evacuation plan around Lake Okeechobee," said George Horne, deputy executive director of operations for the South Florida Water Management District.

The Water Management District raised the alarm throughout the state in May when it discovered the damage and erosion caused by previous hurricanes. An engineering report the district commissioned declared it "poses a grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida."

FEMA has contracted for seven disaster responders from Baton Rouge, La.-based Innovative Emergency Management. Four would be in South Florida and three in Tallahassee, officials said.

Planners will use a high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging technology to scan the area of the lake to determine where flooding might occur.

State officials said one of the most prepared counties is Palm Beach County.

About four months ago, emergency officials focused on the issue, said Palm Beach County Emergency Services Director Charles Tear.

Planners looked at two scenarios. One was a major storm and an evacuation of the Glades population, and the other was a "the sunny day" scenario, an unexpected failure of the dike, Tear said.

"If [the dike] were to break, the water inundation would take time," he said.

The county's plan may be viewed at www.pbcgov.com/eoc. Click on Hoover Dike information.

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