Naples residents are taking proactive steps to prepare for hurricane season. Over 500 people attended a forum Tuesday to learn about the city’s efforts to become more resilient against storms.
The Collier Community Foundation organized this forum alongside Greater Naples Leadership and the Naples United Church of Christ.
“I think people who have experienced hurricanes and damage to their homes these last couple years want to know what they can better do to protect it,” said Eileen Connelly Kiesler, president and CEO of the Collier Community Foundation. “As a community, how can we come together and figure out what are the projects we need to do along this coastline in protection?”
Rick Ruppert, a Naples resident, shared why he participated in the event.
“Quite frankly, they seem to be coming faster and more furious at times, and if I wanna remain here, I needed to get a better handle on how to do things,” said Ruppert.
Diane Conroy, another resident, expressed her thoughts on the event’s turnout.
“It’s good that there was a lot of turnout. I think people are very much more aware than we have been in the past,” said Conroy. “I mean, we’ve been here as a family since 1977, and there has never been a storm that breached our sea wall. So now we’ve got these storms that are coming more frequently.”
Thursday’s forum featured WINK News Weather Authority Chief Meteorologist Matt Devitt, who discussed the history of storms in Naples, preparation strategies, and the upcoming hurricane season.
“I am so encouraged to see everybody here right now because you guys are doing the right thing,” said Devitt. “The time to prepare for storms is not as it’s approaching; the time to do it is on sunny, beautiful days ahead of tropical systems.”
Dr. Jennifer Jurado, chief resilience officer of Broward County, shared innovative techniques used on the East Coast.
The information that Phil Messer, a Naples local, found insightful.
“It was interesting to hear what they’re doing over in Broward County with the sea walls and all that. I had no idea they were doing that much and was wondering how much that would benefit Collier County,” said Messer.
Conroy added: “I’m going back to our HOA to tell them about what’s happening in Broward County because we’re looking at mitigation. What can we do [to mitigate]? We live right on the backwater, so we have been flooded a number of times,” said Conroy. “And I think that hearing that that’s what the city is doing, raising their sea walls, raising retaining walls, protecting their infrastructure, that would be better.”
Dan Summers, director of Collier County Emergency Management, also spoke during the forum. He highlighted the importance of building stronger to prevent expensive damage.
“I think folks realize that as we work to become disaster resilient, we know that investing in disaster resiliency, what we call prevention and mitigation, is something that we’ve just got to do more of,” said Summers. “So that we don’t have this expensive, very expensive damage repair, damage repair cycle.”
For those who missed the event, today’s presentations are available online at colliercf.org on the front page, titled: “Taking the Punch Out of Powerful Hurricanes: A Forum on Building Resilience.”
