By Florida A&M University
With the Atlantic hurricane season less than a month away, the Florida A&M University (FAMU) Senior Leadership Team (SLT) participated in a hurricane preparedness exercise and training session on May 3. The Florida Division of Emergency Management also participated in the exercise.
“The hurricane preparedness exercise helped us to contemplate scenarios and issues that we have to be ready for, especially living in Florida. This state has been impacted by three hurricanes over the last four years,” said FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D.
In 2017, when Hurricane Michael tore through the Big Bend, classes at FAMU were disrupted. For the past two years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University has been in an emergency response mode. Hurricane preparedness poses a different challenge, however.
“Establishing our incident organizational structure, identifying key personnel, and developing operational procedures are steps that enhance the safety of our constituents, mitigate damage, and preserve the integrity of assets needed to provide services to our students, faculty, staff, and community partners,” Robinson said. “We must be particularly vigilant as hurricane season approaches since FAMU has operations located throughout Florida.”
FAMU Emergency Management Director Ashley Davis, who coordinated the session, noted that the National Hurricane Center begins issuing regular tropical weather forecasts on May 15. Having The University’s objective is to have a plan in place before a disaster occurs, Davis said.
“In emergency management, relationships are vital to our success to ensure we prepare for disasters together,” Davis said. “We must remember it only takes one hurricane to impact our University and community. Now is the time to prepare.”
David Odom, director of the Tallahassee/Leon County Consolidated Dispatch Agency and 911 Emergency Communications, facilitated the training session and guided the team through a tabletop exercise.
“It was important to discuss how the University would prepare itself for the mythical Hurricane Bill from 48 hours out, to landfall, to post-landfall,” Odom, who focused on prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
