Preparing for Hurricane Season

HELLO, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I'M MIKE WALTER. WE'RE LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY FROM THE START OF THE 2026 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON AND OF EARLY PREDICTION. STAY THE COURSE. IT COULD BE ANOTHER QUIET YEAR AS PART OF THEIR SEASONAL HURRICANE FORECASTING. THE WEATHER EXPERTS SAID COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY ARE ESTIMATING 13 NAMED STORMS THIS YEAR. AND OF THOSE ONLY 2 ARE PREDICTED TO DEVELOP INTO MAJOR STORMS. BOTH THOSE NUMBERS SLIGHTLY BELOW. THE AVERAGE IS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS. HOWEVER, WARMER OCEAN TEMPERATURES AND GULF CURRENTS STILL CREATE A SENSE OF UNPREDICTABILITY. LOCAL LEADERS ARE NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES WHEN IT COMES TO PREPARATIONS. JOINING US NOW IS LEE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF JOHN SCHULTZ. JOHN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. >> THANK YOU. MY GLAD TO BE HERE AGAIN. >> LET'S START WITH THIS ONE. WHAT OR LET'S SAY TO MOST CRITICAL THINGS FOR ALL OF US TO NOT THINK ABOUT. BUT DO RIGHT NOW AS WE'RE IN THE SECOND WEEK OF MAY. >> START THINKING ABOUT HURRICANE SEASON, RIGHT? WE WANT TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED. HAVE A PLAN, ESPECIALLY THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN CHARGE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE. YOU KNOW, THIS, OUR SENIOR COMMUNITY OR OUR CHILDREN MAKE SURE THAT WE ALREADY START THINKING ABOUT HAVING A PLAN THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON, EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE SECOND WEEK OF MAY, IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START PLANNING. >> YEAH, LAST YEAR WE HAD NO MAJOR THREATS HERE. WE HAD THE LEN FALLS. HOW WORRIED ARE YOU THAT PEOPLE ARE COMPLACENT? >> IT'S ALWAYS A CONCERN. YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH THE ARE NEW ARRIVALS TO THE AREA THAT COME IN AND VISIT AND NOT ONLY MOVE HERE, BUT GETTING THAT MESSAGE OUT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE. SO WE'RE CONSTANTLY USING THESE KINDS OF MEDIA, OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND ENGAGING WITH THE PUBLIC THROUGH OUTREACH EVENTS TO GET OUR MESSAGE OUT THERE AFTER THE STORM SEASON LAST YEAR, WHICH WE SAW NO MAJOR STORMS OF IMPACT IN OUR AREA. WE ALL WANT PEOPLE TO GET COMPLACENT AND ONLY TAKES ONE STORM AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO KEEP THAT IN THEIR MIND AS THEY MAKE THEIR PLANS. AND THAT'S HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT? >> THE FEMA. >> AND AND ITS ABILITY TO STEP UP AND HELP IN CASE OF DAMAGE FOR DAMAGING STORM. GIVEN ALL THE TALK ABOUT BUDGET CUTS AND SO ON. STAFF KOCH AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL. >> SO LAST YEAR WE DID HAVE A IS INTERESTING DYNAMICS WITH STORMS THAT FAIRLY COUNTY, HOWEVER, IN TWENTY-TWENTY 4, WE HAD HURRICANE MILTON AND I CAN TELL YOU, MIKE, FEMA WAS THERE FOR US ON THE GROUND AND ASSISTED US WHEN WE NEEDED IT. SO I DON'T HAVE TO MISS CONCERNS THAT THEY WOULDN'T BE HERE. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, THE NATIONAL HURRICANE SERVICE, THEIR PERSONNEL AS AS WITH THIS ALL THE TIME, I SPEAK TO THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS. AND SO THEY'RE REALLY THERE HASN'T BEEN A LOT OF TURNOVER IN THOSE CRITICAL WHAT IS YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL IN? >> THE STATE OF FLORIDA SUPPORT AND COORDINATION WITH THE COUNTY IN CASE OF DAMAGE. >> F THEM, THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS SECOND TO NONE COMING GUTHRIE'S CREW. AND AGAIN, I TALKED TO THEM ON A WEEKLY BASIS. IN FACT, I TALKED TO THEM YESTERDAY. I WATCHED KEVIN'S A PERFORMANCE WITH A FEMA REVISION COMMITTEE YESTERDAY IN WASHINGTON AND I'M I'M EXCITED WHERE THEY'RE TAKING THE AGENCY. FEMA. AND WITH KEVIN'S LEADERSHIP. I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO IT'S GOING TO BE A MORE EFFICIENT AGENCY AND JUST ALL THE SUCCESSES THAT HE'S DONE HERE IN FLORIDA. >> WHAT IS NEW, IF ANYTHING, ON FLOOD ZONES IN LEE COUNTY AND ALSO SHELTERS AND THE SHELTER SPACE. >> NOTHING WE STAR USING THE SAME SHELTER SYSTEM THAT WE HAD LAST YEAR. THE FLOOD ZONES ARE STILL THE SAME. I WILL TELL YOU THAT WE USE AND MORE TECHNOLOGY. WE PUT THE WE ARE NEARLY 30 WEATHER STATIONS AROUND THE COUNTY TO HELP US GAUGE WHERE WIND SPEEDS AROUND. AND THEN WE'VE ALSO DEPLOYED 17 TITLE GAUGES WHICH HELP AUGMENT THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. AND I KNOW IS A TIDAL GAUGES OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. THAT'S WHAT ABOUT CHANGES FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER IN THE CONES. >> AND THEN THIS WHOLE FORECAST CONE BUSINESS. >> HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR ROLE? AND RESIDENTS AND YOU THINK PEOPLE GET MORE CONFUSED. >> THEN THAN HELPED BY ALL OF THESE CHANGES EVERY YEAR. >> YOU KNOW, I THINK AS TIME GOES ON, I THINK WE'RE ALL REALIZING THAT WHEN WE FIRST GOT IN THIS BUSINESS, THE MODELING WAS IT A LITTLE BIT SUSPECT? MAYBE THERE WAS A KIND OF A WIDE AREA, BUT I FIND THAT WAS A NEW TECHNOLOGIES. THE DEPLOYMENT OF SATELLITES, THEY'RE TIGHTENING THEIR MODELS. AND I THINK THIS IS JUST THE KIND OF A NATURAL EVOLUTION OF TRYING TO GET THAT CONE MORE AS ALIGNED WITH THE TECHNOLOGY TO GIVE THE PEOPLE THE ABILITY TO MAKE THOSE INFORMED DECISIONS WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART? >> WHICH IN YOUR EMOTIONS HEADING INTO THIS HURRICANE SEASON? >> WELL, I'M ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC. I'M OPTIMISTIC BY NATURE. A WERE YOU KNOW, IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER TEAM TO CONFRONT THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE HERE IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. OUR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THE THIS SITUATION BEFORE AND I KNOW WE'D BE ABLE TO STEP UP AGAIN AND IN 2024. WITH HURRICANE MILTON, SOME OF THE FEMA PEOPLE THAT CAME IN AND HELPED US. THEY WERE AMAZED BY THE RESILIENCE OF OUR COMMUNITY. THEY MADE MANY COMMENTS TO ME ABOUT HOW RESILIENT OUR COUNT COMMUNITY WAS. >> ALL RIGHT, JOHN SHOALS, LEE COUNTY, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF, THANKS SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US AND SHARING. THESE ARE GREAT POINT. YOU MADE. >> THANK YOU, MIKE. I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU FOR