Emergency Management Deputy Director Kelly Wilson Advocates for Hurricane Preparedness

• 21 August 2023
• Category: Public Safety
• Tags: 2023

St. Johns County Emergency Management Deputy Director Kelly Wilson Advocates for Hurricane Preparedness on City of St. Augustine’s The Break Room Podcast

St. Johns County Emergency Management (SJCEM) Deputy Director Kelly Wilson recently appeared on The Break Room, the City of St. Augustine’s weekly podcast, to shed light on the critical role of Emergency Management in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts as well as how residents can prepare before a storm arrives. Listen to the podcast now at https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/kelly-wilson-deputy-director-sjc-emergency-management/id1622242095?i=1000622409410.

As the Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing, it’s crucial for residents to have a plan and be ready in the event St. Johns County is impacted.

“The most important thing you can do today, if you’re going to do one thing, is find out if you’re in an evacuation zone,” Wilson said. “You can go to our website, www.sjcemergencymanagement.com, you’ll see a tool called ‘My Evacuation Zone.’ All you have to do is enter your St. Johns County address and it will tell you whether or not you’re in an evacuation zone. If you are, there are zones A through F. If you’re in an evacuation zone, you will want to listen for that when a storm is approaching to see if we evacuate you. Today is the day to find out if you live in a zone. If you do live in one, figure out what you are going to do and where you are going to go so you are not panicking at the last moment when a storm is approaching.”

SJCEM encourages residents to sign up for the Alert St. Johns emergency notification system at www.sjcemergencymanagement.com. This system enables SJCEM to quickly provide the public with critical information in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, water advisories, missing persons, evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods, and incidents that may threaten public safety. Residents will receive time-sensitive messages by the method of their choice, such as home, mobile, or business phones, email addresses, text messages, and more.

In conjunction with Alert St. Johns, SJCEM is using Nixle Alerts to provide another way for the public to stay updated with relevant information from the St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center. Any individual can text StJohnsEOC to 888777 to opt-in to receive notifications through SMS text messages. Nixle does not charge for this service, but carrier message and data rates may apply. SJCEM will use this service to alert residents of public safety advisories, natural and human-caused disasters, and other significant events that may impact the community.