Lessons learned from Hurricane Michael

JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - The west coast of Florida is bracing for Hurricane Ian’s impact, but inland areas of the Florida peninsula are also at risk.

We saw that scenario during Hurricane Michael nearly four years ago. Inland areas, like Jackson County were hit hard.

The Jackson County Emergency Operations Chief tells us they learned a lot from Hurricane Michael. And the county is more prepared than ever before if faced with a similar situation in the future.

”There’s always, any time you have a major event even if you think you’re doing everything right, you’re going to look back at where did we not meet the needs and where did we have failures,” Keith Maddox, Operations Chief and Emergency Manager for Jackson County, said. “So certainly I think early preparation and the biggest thing is understanding that it can happen. That something that severe can impact you.”

Bay County Emergency Officials also say there are ways for you to be prepared in the event of a major storm.

“I think the most important thing that we’ve learned is having a good plan for what you’re going to do if a disaster affects our area,” Brad Monroe, chief of Fire and Emergency Services for Bay County Florida, said. We have lots of good templates that we can use.”

Emergency Operations officials say they are getting ready for the possible surge of evacuees from southwest Florida.

Copyright 2022 WJHG. All rights reserved.