January 20, 2025 • 9 mins
BREAKING NEWS: Governor DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in North Florida ahead of a winter storm bringing snow and sleet and more. We recorded an interview Monday with Okaloosa County Emergency Management Director Patrick Maddox.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Introduction here Patrick Maddock's, director of Public Safety for Okalusa County.
Mister Maddox, we know about the winter storm warning and
extreme cold, at least by Florida standards, the weather that
is predicted for northwest Florida, including Okalusa County. Let's start
with this. You know that you're looking at possibly snow
or winter mix, depending on how the weather system lines up,
(00:24):
possibly even some ice. What kind of resources do you
have to deal first of all with the snow and
ice on roads and bridges. It's not a common thing
in any part of Florida. What do you have and
what kind of assistance are you expecting or hoping for
from the state or any other officials.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, good question, Gordon. And the way that Florida has
maintained its emergency response structure to this point, you know,
has to do with the ability for us to network,
coordinate and provide mutual aid, and not only to each other,
with our brother and sister counties, state and federal government
as well. Because we are so susceptible to natural disasters
(01:05):
such as major impacts from hurricanes, severe weather, tornadoes, you
name it, we get it here in Florida. So having
a response to a severe weather threat is nothing new
to us. However, the snow impact, of course, last time
we had anything like this was I believe January twenty fourteen.
So the way that we look at it is our
ability to clear the roads is not as important as
(01:27):
our ability to communicate the threat to our citizens, our
two hundred and seventeen thousand citizens here in Okalusa County,
our staff, our first responders, our critical infrastructure community, and
those who depend on our resources, our citizens and visitors.
So we spend a tremendous amount of time in preparation.
(01:47):
You know, if you give me four hours to cut
down a tree, I'll spend three hours sharpening the acts.
Kind of a mentality. So we have robust conference calls
with our National Weather Service partners, with our Florida Division
of Emergency Management partners, and that's where many of our
resources that we can draw upon come from. Our Public
Works Department, of course has sand spreading equipment and sand
(02:08):
trucks which assists in some traction for icy roadways. But
the Florida Department of Transportation DOT has the de icing equipment,
whether that be ethically and glycol or chloride salts that
they would be able to spread on state roads, bridges, overpasses,
and things like that, where county and municipal governments will
handle the county and local roadways. I'm told that DOT
(02:29):
is also spinning up some limited snowplow assets for our region.
We are in constant communication with DOT Regional rep. We
maintain a robust emergency contact list. We use the NIMS
and ICs command system, so we have all kinds of structure, communication, logistics,
and resources ready to spin up, as well as personnel
(02:51):
assigned to carry out those tasks.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Now, I have to say that we don't think of
snowplows as normally being a Florida thing. So is this
something where equipment that's used for other purposes is being
adapted for moving snow?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, this is something that FDOT is handled, and that's
a resource control by them. This isn't something that we
have locally here at the county level, so that would
be a question for FDOT.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Now, what should people know about roads and bridges icing
over That's certainly a concern and certainly not something that
Floridians people who live in the area as opposed to transplants,
have lived are used to dealing.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
With yeah, you're right, And the drag coefficient on ice
is different than the drag coefficient on oil and water,
which happens in the typical rainstorm. You know, we're used
to driving in heavy rain. Here, we're used to driving
in roadways. Let's collect a little bit of water, but
ice is different. So what people really need to know
is that if you don't have to go out but
right before, during, and immediately after this event happens, don't
(03:50):
get where you're going to need to be, Get where
you're going to be comfortable, and stay there for the
duration of the event unless it's an absolute emergency. But
if you do have to be out on the road
way for one reason or another, speed needs to be reduced,
especially going into turns, breaking distances are much much greater.
And in certain parts of northwest Florida we have very
(04:11):
hilly terrain, especially in the north end of our county.
So even if you park on slope surfaces, the vehicle
can actually slide, whether you have on your parking breate
or not, just because of the reduced drag coefficient and
the weight of the vehicle. So basically it can create
hazardous circumstances. Pay attention to official news sources for closed roads,
(04:33):
closed bridges, things like that, and other hazardous conditions. We
will be sending out in Okahlusa County what we call
it an Everbroot's Notification later today, which will reach all
of the information that is contained in the white pages
where Okahlusa County and it will create an emergency message
to those folks or anybody that hasn't been tracking this
threat already, and it'll give them a phone call with
(04:56):
some specific predefined information that we put out letting them
know about the dangerousness system could pose.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, I have to think that there will be a
widespread power out it chuse as a possibility with snow
and ice accumulation. I am assuming that mok Okaloosa County
is mostly electric heating, and so what preparations are being
made as far as people staying warm in that situation.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Sure, so we're no stranger to power out of this here,
especially from hurricanes and that in those conditions. You know,
it's usually the warm months. So people are used to
having portable generators and other things like that to go
ahead and take care of their homes. They're also used
to being able to provide robust care for their families
and loved ones. In this particular case, we encourage anybody
(05:41):
that does use any type of portable heater, whether it
be kerosene, propane or anything like that, to please use
due care. We respond to structure fires every year when
the cold weather hits and folks use those heaters in
ways that might not be consistent with the manufacturers recommendations.
There are especially for our homeless populations. We have two
(06:02):
very good homeless shelters in the county, one in the
North end and Crestview one in the south end of
Fort Walton Beach, which can provide warm resources for our
homeless personnel.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
What county services are going to be closed over the
next few days as because of the cold weather.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
So for Tuesday and Wednesday we have closed non essential
services for the county. So what will be open are
folks like first responders right our public safety folks. Our
emergency management staff will be staffing our Emergency Operations Center EMS.
There will be beat safety staff out there on the beachfront.
(06:39):
We will have our obviously our emergency medical services at
operating at full bore. Fire departments will be running corrections,
public works airports all of the time sensitive critical stuff
that cannot be shut down will still be up and running.
The non essential services, the administrative, all uses and things
(07:00):
like that will be closed for Tuesday Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Now over the next few days. How are you going
to be you mentioned, Everbridge, How are you going to
be reaching out to the public. Are you planning regular
news conferences? Are you planning regular social media updates? How's
that going to work?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Sure? So, we have a fantastic public Information office and
I send out updates every time we get an update
from National Weather Service or have a conference with FDM.
I have an email list that hits all of our
city managers, county officials, critical infrastructure groups, police chiefs, fire chiefs,
business contacts through the chambers of commerce and this we
(07:38):
send that out for all severe weather alerts, any type
there's a threat to a county, the threat to our county,
any type of severe weather events, just like we have
with this, and I send those out regularly. That information
is also parroted on social media, bio or public Information Office,
and they keep up with the road closures and let
the public know that way, and I conduct copious and
(08:00):
outs of news interviews and get the information out that way.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
As well, and we definitely appreciate that. I'll wrap it
up here with you in just a moment as a
closing thought, any messages you need to get out to
the public and the area you're affected by, and to
the rest of the state as far as.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Where you stand, absolutely Oklusa County is prepared. We are
up and running and activated and ready to respond to
the needs of our citizens, staff and visitors. We encourage
you to pay attention to official news sources. The social
media hype can sometimes push information which is either inflated
(08:39):
or deflated or just not accurate to begin with, so
please pay attention to official news sources. Treat this threat
as real. We're not used to snow in this part
of the world, So if we would go ahead and
make sure your preparations are calm and prepare early, and
remember that if right now, the best information we have
is that the snow flowries or expect did midday beginning
(09:02):
Tuesday and will last through Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning,
and of course increase in frequency and coverage throughout that timeframe.
So if you don't have to be out on the
road during those times, don't be and be very very
careful if you do have to go out for emergency reasons.
The temperatures will be very very low following the event,
so even Wednesday, whatever falls on Tuesday is likely still
(09:23):
going to be there on Wednesday, so Wednesday is another day.
They use extreme caution when going out on the roadways.
If you don't have to go, don't
Introduction here Patrick Maddock's, director of Public Safety for Okalusa County.
Mister Maddox, we know about the winter storm warning and
extreme cold, at least by Florida standards, the weather that
is predicted for northwest Florida, including Okalusa County. Let's start
with this. You know that you're looking at possibly snow
or winter mix, depending on how the weather system lines up,
(00:24):
possibly even some ice. What kind of resources do you
have to deal first of all with the snow and
ice on roads and bridges. It's not a common thing
in any part of Florida. What do you have and
what kind of assistance are you expecting or hoping for
from the state or any other officials.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, good question, Gordon. And the way that Florida has
maintained its emergency response structure to this point, you know,
has to do with the ability for us to network,
coordinate and provide mutual aid, and not only to each other,
with our brother and sister counties, state and federal government
as well. Because we are so susceptible to natural disasters
(01:05):
such as major impacts from hurricanes, severe weather, tornadoes, you
name it, we get it here in Florida. So having
a response to a severe weather threat is nothing new
to us. However, the snow impact, of course, last time
we had anything like this was I believe January twenty fourteen.
So the way that we look at it is our
ability to clear the roads is not as important as
(01:27):
our ability to communicate the threat to our citizens, our
two hundred and seventeen thousand citizens here in Okalusa County,
our staff, our first responders, our critical infrastructure community, and
those who depend on our resources, our citizens and visitors.
So we spend a tremendous amount of time in preparation.
(01:47):
You know, if you give me four hours to cut
down a tree, I'll spend three hours sharpening the acts.
Kind of a mentality. So we have robust conference calls
with our National Weather Service partners, with our Florida Division
of Emergency Management partners, and that's where many of our
resources that we can draw upon come from. Our Public
Works Department, of course has sand spreading equipment and sand
(02:08):
trucks which assists in some traction for icy roadways. But
the Florida Department of Transportation DOT has the de icing equipment,
whether that be ethically and glycol or chloride salts that
they would be able to spread on state roads, bridges, overpasses,
and things like that, where county and municipal governments will
handle the county and local roadways. I'm told that DOT
(02:29):
is also spinning up some limited snowplow assets for our region.
We are in constant communication with DOT Regional rep. We
maintain a robust emergency contact list. We use the NIMS
and ICs command system, so we have all kinds of structure, communication, logistics,
and resources ready to spin up, as well as personnel
(02:51):
assigned to carry out those tasks.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Now, I have to say that we don't think of
snowplows as normally being a Florida thing. So is this
something where equipment that's used for other purposes is being
adapted for moving snow?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, this is something that FDOT is handled, and that's
a resource control by them. This isn't something that we
have locally here at the county level, so that would
be a question for FDOT.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Now, what should people know about roads and bridges icing
over That's certainly a concern and certainly not something that
Floridians people who live in the area as opposed to transplants,
have lived are used to dealing.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
With yeah, you're right, And the drag coefficient on ice
is different than the drag coefficient on oil and water,
which happens in the typical rainstorm. You know, we're used
to driving in heavy rain. Here, we're used to driving
in roadways. Let's collect a little bit of water, but
ice is different. So what people really need to know
is that if you don't have to go out but
right before, during, and immediately after this event happens, don't
(03:50):
get where you're going to need to be, Get where
you're going to be comfortable, and stay there for the
duration of the event unless it's an absolute emergency. But
if you do have to be out on the road
way for one reason or another, speed needs to be reduced,
especially going into turns, breaking distances are much much greater.
And in certain parts of northwest Florida we have very
(04:11):
hilly terrain, especially in the north end of our county.
So even if you park on slope surfaces, the vehicle
can actually slide, whether you have on your parking breate
or not, just because of the reduced drag coefficient and
the weight of the vehicle. So basically it can create
hazardous circumstances. Pay attention to official news sources for closed roads,
(04:33):
closed bridges, things like that, and other hazardous conditions. We
will be sending out in Okahlusa County what we call
it an Everbroot's Notification later today, which will reach all
of the information that is contained in the white pages
where Okahlusa County and it will create an emergency message
to those folks or anybody that hasn't been tracking this
threat already, and it'll give them a phone call with
(04:56):
some specific predefined information that we put out letting them
know about the dangerousness system could pose.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Now, I have to think that there will be a
widespread power out it chuse as a possibility with snow
and ice accumulation. I am assuming that mok Okaloosa County
is mostly electric heating, and so what preparations are being
made as far as people staying warm in that situation.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Sure, so we're no stranger to power out of this here,
especially from hurricanes and that in those conditions. You know,
it's usually the warm months. So people are used to
having portable generators and other things like that to go
ahead and take care of their homes. They're also used
to being able to provide robust care for their families
and loved ones. In this particular case, we encourage anybody
(05:41):
that does use any type of portable heater, whether it
be kerosene, propane or anything like that, to please use
due care. We respond to structure fires every year when
the cold weather hits and folks use those heaters in
ways that might not be consistent with the manufacturers recommendations.
There are especially for our homeless populations. We have two
(06:02):
very good homeless shelters in the county, one in the
North end and Crestview one in the south end of
Fort Walton Beach, which can provide warm resources for our
homeless personnel.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
What county services are going to be closed over the
next few days as because of the cold weather.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
So for Tuesday and Wednesday we have closed non essential
services for the county. So what will be open are
folks like first responders right our public safety folks. Our
emergency management staff will be staffing our Emergency Operations Center EMS.
There will be beat safety staff out there on the beachfront.
(06:39):
We will have our obviously our emergency medical services at
operating at full bore. Fire departments will be running corrections,
public works airports all of the time sensitive critical stuff
that cannot be shut down will still be up and running.
The non essential services, the administrative, all uses and things
(07:00):
like that will be closed for Tuesday Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Now over the next few days. How are you going
to be you mentioned, Everbridge, How are you going to
be reaching out to the public. Are you planning regular
news conferences? Are you planning regular social media updates? How's
that going to work?
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Sure? So, we have a fantastic public Information office and
I send out updates every time we get an update
from National Weather Service or have a conference with FDM.
I have an email list that hits all of our
city managers, county officials, critical infrastructure groups, police chiefs, fire chiefs,
business contacts through the chambers of commerce and this we
(07:38):
send that out for all severe weather alerts, any type
there's a threat to a county, the threat to our county,
any type of severe weather events, just like we have
with this, and I send those out regularly. That information
is also parroted on social media, bio or public Information Office,
and they keep up with the road closures and let
the public know that way, and I conduct copious and
(08:00):
outs of news interviews and get the information out that way.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
As well, and we definitely appreciate that. I'll wrap it
up here with you in just a moment as a
closing thought, any messages you need to get out to
the public and the area you're affected by, and to
the rest of the state as far as.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Where you stand, absolutely Oklusa County is prepared. We are
up and running and activated and ready to respond to
the needs of our citizens, staff and visitors. We encourage
you to pay attention to official news sources. The social
media hype can sometimes push information which is either inflated
(08:39):
or deflated or just not accurate to begin with, so
please pay attention to official news sources. Treat this threat
as real. We're not used to snow in this part
of the world, So if we would go ahead and
make sure your preparations are calm and prepare early, and
remember that if right now, the best information we have
is that the snow flowries or expect did midday beginning
(09:02):
Tuesday and will last through Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning,
and of course increase in frequency and coverage throughout that timeframe.
So if you don't have to be out on the
road during those times, don't be and be very very
careful if you do have to go out for emergency reasons.
The temperatures will be very very low following the event,
so even Wednesday, whatever falls on Tuesday is likely still
(09:23):
going to be there on Wednesday, so Wednesday is another day.
They use extreme caution when going out on the roadways.
If you don't have to go, don't
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