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Investigation prompts response from senator's office after months of inaction by lawmakers

Months of inaction and silence finally came to an end when a representative from Senator Marco Rubio's office reached out to a local activist after watching a First Coast News investigation into tidal sensors along the St. Johns River. Without more money to keep them going, they could break down and go offline, a grave concern now that hurricane season officially begins on Friday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Months of inaction and silence finally came to an end on Thursday when a representative from Senator Marco Rubio's office reached out to a local activist after watching a First Coast News investigation into tidal sensors along the St. Johns River.

Captain Mike Getchell is the executive director of the Jacksonville Marine Transportation Exchange. He is in charge of maintenance and monitoring of the 64 sensors strategically placed along nearly 70 miles of the river.

He, and a number of others, including Quinton White and William Lusk, have worked tirelessly to try and save the network of sensors, but the funding to keep them going ran out in April.

Getchell says he's been reaching out to lawmakers since December, but to no avail.

However, while in the middle of an interview with Getchell on Thursday, his phone rang. It was a call from Senator Rubio’s office. A representative told Getchell she watched the story air on First Coast News the night before and wanted to help. They plan to meet next week.

"They saw your story last night, good thing they like news," said Getchell.

He says this is the first response they've received in months.

Among dozens of lifesaving tasks, the sensors are the source of information for the national weather service when it comes to floods, storm surges, hurricanes and any other data that might lead to warnings and evacuations across the First Coast.

Without more money to keep them going, they could break down and go offline, a grave concern now that hurricane season has officially begun.

Sen. Aaron Beans officer has offered them some connections to help find funding for the sensors, but he says nothing concrete came of it and now he fears the sensors are in jeopardy unless they find money quickly.

Locally, Jacksonville city council members say they were taken by surprise when they learned of the sensors a few weeks ago.

"I’ll admit we we're late to the party," said Councilwoman Lori Boyer.

Boyer says she just found out about the sensors and immediately reached out to the mayor's office for more information. She says it's "clear" they're important, especially in the event of a hurricane.

NOAA meteorologist Al Sandrik called Boyer out though, responding in a lengthy email chain about the issue, saying, “I've never met one who wanted less data and especially during a storm! ... We just can't provide the current level of service to the city without that sensor.”

Getchell says, without the sensors’ data they wouldn’t have known to keep emergency crews in downtown Jacksonville for rescue and support after Irma, they may have otherwise sent them down south.

Rubio's office tells First Coast News they are now looking into the matter and are working to answer a number of our questions. In a statement, they said:

“The senator supports FEMA grants, including the Port Security Grant Program, that help to bolster the security, preparedness, and resilience capabilities of local communities throughout Florida. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he helped shape the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations division of the omnibus funding package which included $100 million in funding for PSGP for which this project is eligible to compete.”

First Coast News will have another report on this investigation on Friday at 6 p.m.

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