Talk about a potential double-whammy — coronavirus and a hurricane.

With the official start of storm season just weeks away, it’s something local emergency managers must consider.

Hopefully the virus threat will have largely passed by the typical peak of storm activity mid-August to early October.

But what if a hurricane approached and South Floridians were still social distancing and sheltering in place?

“(We’re) focusing on coronavirus, but we’re also having the conversation about what would we do if we had a hurricane, if we had to issue evacuation orders,” Martin County Emergency Management Director Michele Jones said.

This week, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott sent a letter to the head of FEMA, seeking guidance for states and local governments. The senators asked that the agency “take into account how to properly evacuate and shelter those who either have, or are suspected to have, the coronavirus in the event of a storm.”

Jones is already thinking of likely measures.

“If we needed to check folks as they came into the hurricane shelter, check their temperatures, ask the screening questions,” she said. “Setting up isolation rooms with the facility.”

Jones also said it may be necessary to require masks or provide them at shelters.

“We have the ability to do that social distancing within the shelter, open up additional shelters, if needed,” she said. “We do 20 square feet per person — that’s sort of our planning number. But we’re looking at building that out a little bit.”

Jones said Martin County is fortunate to have plenty of schools available as back-up shelter locations. She also brought up the possibility emergency operations centers might have to function virtually, via video or audio conference calls. Not at all ideal, but just another hurdle.

“We focus on an all-hazards preparedness program,” she said. “So it doesn’t really matter the type of disaster that we’re responding to. If we had a COVID-19 and a hurricane, I think our first responders, our emergency management team, they know what to do, they know what would be expected of them."