Hurricane Life: The Rise of the Climate Resiliency Sector

I live in Florida. The year-round sunshine is a must for me, but events like Hurricane Milton are an unfortunate reality of life here. As our family completed preparations for this latest storm, I gave my husband, Joe Conte, WELL AP a new level of gratitude. Joe is our Chief Disaster Preparedness Officer and an operations powerhouse.

From a work perspective, he's been overseeing capital repairs of 45+ schools damaged in Hurricane Ian, and as those repairs were winding down, here came Milton. Hours before the storm, he traveled from school to school, assessing their readiness. His presence on the ground is indispensable—an absolute necessity for organizations navigating a climate crisis.

Work like his is primed to expand, but it's is a double edged sword. No one wants to see, let alone benefit from, the devastation we're seeing in Asheville, NC and here on the Gulf Coast.

His work is truth in action. Disaster resilience is not a one-off capability that rolls in and out like a storm itself. It's a necessary capability and burgeoning sector that will continue to expand as extreme weather grows constant in our everyday lives.

The climate and disaster resilience sector is all-encompassing. It's a combination of risk management, crisis preparedness, urban planning, facilities management, stakeholder relations, multi-agency coordination and much more.

Despite obstacles here and there, Joe loves the work, especially when repairs are complete and students have safe, clean and new spaces to learn, play and grow. He takes great pride in seeing the delight on children's faces as they run into a new gym, enter a new classroom, cook in a new home economics room, etc., often after years of learning in disrepair.

Sadly, this is students' new reality ... and that of every global population. No one is immune. Do not live under a false sense of security that disasters like these can't happen to you, your organization, your loved ones.

Because they will, sooner or later. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the number of climate-related disasters, including extreme weather events, has increased fivefold over the past 50 years.

This is not a matter of whether or not you believe in climate change. These are facts and lived experiences. Every one of us in SWFL can vouch. Climate disasters aren't going anywhere. So the questions for leaders are:

• What crisis plans are in place for climate situations? Are you covered for wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, heatwaves, flooding, droughts, etc.?
• Do your plans address preparedness, recovery, rebuilding and everything in between?
• Is your plan well communicated, simulated, practiced and refreshed on a regular basis?
• Do you have people on your team who can execute quickly (within hours)? And if you don't, do you have the right partners who can extend your capabilities?

I used to work in local news. Every day it seemed there was a wildfire, a tornado, a blizzard, a hurricane. It was so frequent we issued 'severe weather playbooks' to help stations position themselves during Mother Nature's fury. A local station is one of the most critical organizations in severe weather. If they can manage through, so you can you. But it takes a special kind of leadership, a special kind of know-how and a special kind of team. I've got Joe on mine. Who do you have?

#disasterresilience #climateresilience #climate #climatechange #riskmanagement #crisisprevention #preparedness #disasterrecovery