Florida Gulf Coast prepares for hurricane impacts

AccuWeather

Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey joins AccuWeather to explain how the city is gearing up for the upcoming storm.

Transcript

00:00the storm. It's going to be

00:01pretty tough. It's going to be

00:04pretty tough. It's going to be

00:05pretty tough. Florida's capital

00:07city has had several rough

00:09months weather wise from

00:11tornadoes in May to Hurricane

00:12Debbie in August, and now

00:14preparations are underway ahead

00:14of the storm expected to arrive

00:19on Tuesday. John Daly is the

00:21mayor of Tallahassee, and he

00:23joins us now Mayor Daly. How is

00:23Tallahassee gearing up and

00:27preparing for this storm? Well,

00:28first of all, I appreciate you

00:29bringing that up. It's great to

00:31have you on the show. Thank you

00:33for having me on the show as we

00:33have a couple more days to

00:37prepare. Yeah, look, it seems

00:39like we are going through this

00:41exercise every 3 to 6 months

00:43Tallahassee will be prepared.

00:44We have to wait and see what

00:45the strength of the storm is

00:47going to be as it comes towards

00:48us, and this is projected to be

00:49a major hurricane by landfall.

00:52Yeah, and of course, the

00:54Accuweather forecast again has

00:55always talked about landfall on

00:57Thursday impacts for you

00:59right now. You're not that far

01:01away from the coast, and the

01:03problem is you could be looking

01:05at a eye wall coming right in

01:07here with the worst of the

01:09conditions into the city. And

01:11you know, like you said, you've

01:13had extreme weather before. But

01:15how are you preparing the city

01:17for perhaps perhaps wind gusts

01:19well in excess of 75 76 MPH?

01:23No, that's a great question,

01:24and you're absolutely right.

01:25It's projected to be a direct

01:27hit on Tallahassee. We're only

01:29about 2.5 miles inland from the

01:31coast, so we're expecting a

01:33significant wind storm and

01:35obviously significant rain event

01:37as well. The city is currently

01:39preparing around the clock as we

01:41speak. We're stationing our

01:42assets all over the city as we

01:44always do in preparation. We

01:46will have our personnel all over

01:48the city as well and safe places

01:50so that once the storm does come

01:52through, we're going to hunker

01:53down. We're going to weather the

01:54storm, and then we'll make our

01:55assessments as soon as it's done

01:57and we'll get out. We'll start

01:58our assessments and then we'll

01:59make our assessments. So right

02:01now we're encouraging all of our

02:03residents. Now is the time to

02:04take care of business. It's

02:06actually a beautiful day outside

02:08right now with the sunshine. Get

02:09out there. Take care of

02:10yourself, your family, your

02:11friends, your neighbor. Secure

02:13your homes secure all of your

02:15belongings because once we get

02:17into the dangerous areas, we

02:19need everybody to stay at home

02:20or go somewhere safe. But the

02:23city will be prepared. And

02:25Mayor Daly, tornadoes and high

02:26winds are going to be a big

02:28concern in the last couple

02:29months. Is further tree damage

02:31a concern with this storm and

02:33then the possible power outages?

02:35Well, of course, we are

02:37expecting significant power

02:38outages. If it's a major storm,

02:40any community that suffers a

02:41major storm is going to have

02:43significant power outages. And

02:44yes, we are a tree city USA.

02:46It's one of the things that

02:47we're known for, and we are a

02:49beautiful community. But as you

02:51know, high winds, storms and

02:52trees don't mix. And so yes, we

02:55are expecting a major storm or

02:57higher hurricane that comes

02:59directly to Tallahassee. We'll

03:00have to wait and see what

03:01Mother Nature brings. We'll do

03:03a full assessment. We've called

03:04in our mutual aid agreements

03:06from all across the country.

03:07We're going to have additional

03:08personnel here to help us out.

03:10We are prepared. We just have

03:11to wait and see what happens.

03:13And of course, Debbie, not that

03:16long ago, making landfall as

03:18the as a as a hurricane. How

03:21was the recovery going in your

03:24community? Well, it was a

03:25breakthrough. You know,

03:27Tallahassee was able to to to

03:29address our needs immediately.

03:31Obviously, when you look at the

03:32entire Gulf Coast of North

03:34Florida, we all got hit really

03:36hard in North Florida suffered

03:38quite a bit. But we are strong

03:40here in Tallahassee, and we're

03:42going to weather this storm

03:43just like we've weathered

03:44previous storms. We will be

03:46prepared. We've called in our

03:47mutual aid assets from all

03:49across the United States.

03:50They'll be stationed. They'll be

03:52ready to respond. We're just

03:53going to wait and see what

03:55happens. But I just want to

03:56thank everyone. Now's the time

03:58to take care of business and

03:59let's be safe. Once the storm

04:02gets here. Tallahassee Mayor

04:03John Daly. Thanks so much again

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