Press Club of Southwest Florida members enjoyed wraps and sandwiches, chips, cookies and fruit from Sunburst Café recently before listening to a panel aimed at preparing for hurricane season.
At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida on May 3, members first heard from Conservancy President and CEO Rob Moher. The Conservancy celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Moher said, continuing to embrace its mission of “protecting our water, our land, our wildlife and our future.”
Moher outlined the Conservancy’s current concerns. He stressed that resiliency is even more important than when he began at the nonprofit 25 years ago – even since taking its helm 11 years ago – because now, the time it could take for a tropical storm to develop into a major hurricane is so much less than it used to be.
This concerns him.
So does the current 404 program, which he described as “the permit program to destroy wetlands.” Now tied up in court with 6,600 permits awaiting decisions – affecting a half acre to 4,000 acres each – the program would transfer authority from the Army Corps of Engineers to the state, specifically the Department of Environmental Quality, to issue permits for dredging or filling in preparation for development. The idea is that development would be much easier to accomplish.
“Everyone needs to share in the responsibility,” Moher said. “Climate change is a real threat to the community’s existence.”
On that note, Catherine Bergerson of the Press Club Program Committee introduced the program and Cindi Withorn, also of the program committee, as facilitator.
Weekday morning meteorologist for WINK Zach Maloch said he is working on a campaign he calls The Future Evacuation. Since Hurricane Irma, the Southwest Florida population has grown and “we need to evacuate differently than we did then,” he said. “Anytime we’re on the east side of a storm, we have to prepare,” he added.
While the traditional cone predicting a storm has gotten smaller due to more accurate weather forecasting, he said, that doesn’t mean fewer people should prepare. “The cone has gotten smaller as meteorologists are more accurate, but that doesn’t correlate to suspected impacts or danger. Impacts will always happen outside the cone.”
Experts predict 23 tropical storms this season, with warmest water temperatures on record in the Gulf, which matters.
Dan Summers is director of Collier County’s Bureau of Emergency Services. He underscored Maloch’s assertions and predictions and also stressed that residents be more aware of storm surge possibilities.
Did anyone know how much a cubic yard of seawater weighs?
A ton.
“We want to break the damage-repair cycle,” he said. “Run from the water and hide from the wind,” he admonished.
He urged people to subscribe to Alert Collier by going to alertcollier.com.
In addition to his run-and-hide rather lyrical advice, he also offered:
- Your cell phone is the most critical device you have in a storm. Text messages are likely more possible than voice calls to go through.
- Shelters are a lifeboat, not the Love Boat.
- Middle schools in Collier County are pet-friendly.
- How many gallons of water are recommended per person per day? Four gallons.
- Take pictures of your important possessions. (He suggests downloading an app that gives you a date and time stamp.)
- Have a disaster kit and a plan for family members.
- Keep portable generators at least 20 feet away from the house or other structure.
Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Collier Community Foundation, talked about the organization’s disaster relief efforts since the foundation began in 1985.
For instance, since Ian made landfall, the organization raised $10.1 million and has granted or committed $7.6 million to hurricane relief, repair and rebuilding, she said. The foundation has made 140 grants to 70 organizations.
The items that came up as most needed immediately following the last storm were cleaning supplies, pet carriers and tents for unhoused veterans living in the woods.
The foundation’s Collier Comes Together Hurricane Relief Fund is a clearinghouse for storm relief, she said. No money goes to the foundation.
Like Maloch and Summers, the Collier Community Foundation is planning for the next storm. To that end, its effort is COAD: Community Organizations Active in Disaster.
President Julie Pedretti, who opened and closed the meeting, announced that the next event is a media mixer in June or July. Stay tuned!
Dayna Harpster has worked full time in journalism for 38 years – at weeklies, monthlies, and mostly dailies. She was the editor for Expressions magazine for WGCU Public Media and now works as a communications specialist with the PBS station. She also teaches journalism classes for Florida Gulf Coast University. She was recently elected to serve on the Board of Governors of the Press Club of Southwest Florida.
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