Nassau Emergency Management to Hold Roundtable on Preparing for Hurricanes in the Pandemic Environment on Friday, August 7, 2020

“We were lucky, but Hurricane Isaias was a warm-up for Nassau County,” according to Nassau’s Emergency Management Director, Greg Foster.

While Isaias stayed offshore as it skirted the northeast Florida coastline, we saw just how lucky we were as our friends and neighbors to the north took the impact of the storm when it made landfall.

Director Foster says it is a good time to revisit what everyone should do to prepare for the next storm during this active hurricane season and the pandemic.

Foster said, “When we began to recognize the additional consequences of the CoViD-19 pandemic, such as the escalation in mental health and behavioral issues, we produced our Mental Health Roundtable with local experts to provide answers and resources for our residents.” The live June 12th broadcast was seen by thousands in Nassau, Duval, and other parts of the country, and has been shared widely through their YouTube channel.

Today Director Foster announced Nassau County Emergency Management will produce an hour-long Hurricane Preparedness Roundtable this Friday, August 7, at 4 p.m. so that residents can have their questions about the pandemic’s impacts on actions taken before, during, and after a tropical cyclone.

The program will be live-streamed on the NassauEM Facebook page and posted afterward to their www.OneNassau.com website. In addition, WJXT News4Jax will carry the program live on www.news4jax.com and their Facebook page, and plans to repeat portions of the program on its News4Jax evening news programs at 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. Friday.

News4Jax Meteorologist Rebecca Barry will moderate the program. Panelists will include Nassau County Emergency Management Director, Greg Foster; Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Al Sandrik, who previously worked for the National Hurricane Center; Nassau County Public Works Director, Doug Podiak; and Jeffrey Bunch with the Nassau County School District.

Residents are invited to submit questions for any of the panelists beforehand to EOC.PublicInfo@NassauFLEM.com or via the comments section during the broadcast on www.facebook.com/NassauEM.