Before Hurricane Ian. It was a category 5 storm. Administrator criswell was joined during the briefing by the director of the National Weather service as well as other officials. This is about 30 minutes. Admin. Criswell ill begin by providing a little bit of an update on femas mission and preparedness actions that individuals can make right now. First, Hurricane Ian and will continue to be a very dangerous and lifethreatening storm. And this is going to be for the days ahead. Floridians up and down the coast are already feeling the storms painful impacts, and we have yet to experience landfall. However, i spoke with my Leadership Team this morning, and i can confidently say we have the right teams and we have the right resources in place and ready to meet the changes the needs of those that remember charged to serve. But as with any storm, the most important work starts at home. That means we need everyone to heed the warnings of their local officials before, during, and after this storm. There are lifesaving these are lifesaving messages that simply cannot be ignored. And when it comes to hurricanes, water water is dangerous, period. From coastal storm surge to inland flooding, the majority of the state of florida is in ians crosshairs. Therefore, id like to just share a few key safety messages that will help keep you and your family safe. First, never drive through standing or moving water as it takes only a few inches of water to carry away a vehicle. Second, if you are taking shelter in an area with rising water levels, quickly find higher ground. And third, never operate a generator in your home. Too many lives are lost each year due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and its incredibly important that you only run generators outdoors. Now ill give a brief update, Operational Update on the interagency personnel, commodities, and resources that we have deployed to support this response. As i said yesterday, search and rescue remains a top priorities. Our coordination teams remain staged in miami to include teams from our fema urban search and rescue program, the coast guard, c. B. P. , department of defense, department of the interior and the state of florida. These teams will coordinate search and rescue efforts by land, air, and sea. We have 128,000 gallons of fuel, remained ready for rapid deployment. We have moved in a variety of generators of all sizes and types to restore power to Critical Infrastructure and medical facilities as needed. The army corps of engineers is prestaging 350 personnel to conduct power and fuel assessments as soon as the storm passes. And just yesterday, i spoke with the president and c. E. O. Of the American PublicPower Association to discuss some of their Emergency Preparedness actions and the Mutual Aid Agreements they have in place. We have 3. 7 million meals and 3. 5 million leaders of water staged in alabama. And there are multiple volunteer agencies that are staged and prepared to perform feeding operations as soon as it is safe to do so. We have provided florida with 300 ambulances as well as expert federal medical teams. These are the same teams, the same brave First Responders that we used to help communities during covid19. We are also tracking medical needs across floridas hospitals, adult care facilities, and dialysis centers, both for facilities that have evacuated and but more importantly for those that have not. And finally, as i told the president yesterday, this level of interagency coordination will not stop. As we prepare for the historic and the catastrophic impacts that we are already beginning to see. So now with every emergency response, we would not be successful in meeting our mission without our partners at the American Red Cross. The red cross has done an incredible amount of work in preparation for Hurricane Ian and its my pleasure to welcome the American Red Cross c. E. O. Gale mcgovern. Ms. Mcgovern thank you, administrator criswell, for inviting me to join you and fema and the Weather Service are wonderful partners. I want to thank you both. On behalf of the American Red Cross, our hearts are with everyone that is in the path of Hurricane Ian. Please, listen to your local officials. Evacuate if they tell you to do so. Grab your medications, your glasses, your important documents, prescription drugs, and the like. Check on your neighbors. And please, dont wait out the storm if youre being told to evacuate. Its dangerous. Were working closely with our partners and local officials to make sure they have the help that they need. Since last week, the American Red Cross has been moving hundreds of trailed volunteers from across the country and tens of thousands of relief supplies to florida in preparation for ian. Everyones safety is our top concern. We have dedicated a very compassionate teams of red cross leaders in florida, georgia, South Carolina, and north carolina. Theyre in contact with state, local, and tribal officials, and we will be ready to support the evacuation centers. As of this morning, staged in florida we have nearly 500 red cross responders and shelters and supplies for 60,000 people. Those red cross teams have been responding to the request from local government to equip and open evacuation centers. And theyre preparing now to deliver critical relief after the hurricane passes. After landfall, by the end of this weekend, over 2,500 red cross responders will be deployed to florida and other affected states. Well work with our government, nonprofit partners and provide shelter, food, emergency supplies, care, comfort, and hope to the tens of thousands of people in the path of the hurricane. Also, if people want to help their neighbors, we can always use local volunteers. Just go to our website redcross. Org, and there are a lot of ways to find where there are safe shelters. Anyone who needs a safe place can go to find information for open red cross shelters at our website, redcross. Org. Our you can use our free red cross emergency app. And you can call 1800redcross. Just make sure youre following the instructions of the officials mentd and officials. And you can find shelters at floridadisaster. Org. And finally, to everyone in the path of this storm, please, please, please follow the evacuation instructions from your elected officials and your local officials. We know that for many of you recovery from Hurricane Ian will likely be a very long road, and your American Red Cross will be there. And if you like to help us, you can volunteer, you can donate blood, or you can make a financial donation by going to redcross. Org. And no donation is too small. They are all deeply appreciated. And everything that the red cross does is because of the generosity of the American Public. Thank you. Admin. Criswell thank you very much, gail. Now id like to turn to director graham from the National Weather service to talk about what theyre doing in regards to the response. Mr. Graham thank you. Were watching the storm closely. Of course, its a very historic storm as we look at this. So just appreciate the relationship and coordination with fema and also the state, the county, the local, and also the federal level, all the Emergency Managers. Theres been coordination, briefings behind the scenes talking about this storm in the last week and we appreciate that relationship. Actually, literally have my phone up here because things keep changing as we speak with a storm like this, its very common. Ill be able to bring you the latest information right up here. Although i wish this wasnt a forecast that i have to deliver, you know, you really look at this, i wish this wasnt a forecast thats about to come true. Ok. So this is a devastating storm for parts of florida, not just on the southwest coast, but also inland associated with some of these impacts. This will be a storm well talk about for many years to come. So the impacts are under way, already starting to see those squalls getting into florida. Were already were throwing everything at at noaa, everything from the satellites, radar. We had extra balloon releases across the country. Think about the midwest. Think about the northwest united states, the Weather Service forecast office launching extra balloons so we get that data into the models to try to get everything we can into the models to make these forecasts. Hurricane hunters from the air force and noaa have constantly be in the storm often at the same time. Getting us the data that we need and some of these updates that weve been giving you this morning has come from the data we get from the Hurricane Hunters. And i would be remiss if i didnt say, i just want to say this real clear. Heroes, right . They going towards the storm so we can get everybody away from the storm. So just real heroes flying into both the noaa Hurricane Hunters and winds are 155 miles an hour. Category 4 storm. The Hurricane Force winds 38 miles from the center. Its important not to focus on that centerline. 35 miles away from the center you have those hurricaneforce winds. Think about this. 150 miles away from the center you have Tropical Storm force winds. Its not just right there in the center, right . Its a bigger impact from all of this. The storm is slowing down as forecasted. Thats going to compound the issues associated with storm surge and compound the issues associated with the rainfall. So real important. You heard the advice already here, have those plans in place if youre in southwest florida, you know, the time is to be safe and be where you are and other places, you know, central part of the state, the northwest, its not just the west coast. Even the east coast will see storm surge and winds as this takes the time to move across the state slow. Its going to take 24 hours or so once it makes landfall to make it to the other side of the state, across the peninsula. So 24 hours of rainfall. 24 hours of winds pushing the water. Thats 24 hours that youll see some impacts associated with this. We already heard it. Administrator criswell, we talked about this for years. Water. We have to talk about the water. 90 of your fatalities in these tropical systems comes from the water. Storm surge. Its the rain. Not just on the coast but also inland. So we have to talk about it. Life threatening, devastating storm surge forecast. This is the brand new information over the last hour or so. Think about some of these values. Six to 10 feet. Ngle wood, bonita beach, eight to 10 feet storm surge. Thats above ground. Thats your pant leg. Thats a life threatening amount of storm surge. These communities along the coast is in an incredibly dangerous situation. Rainfall, not just along the coast but inland. Think about these values were forecasting. Widespread 10 to 15 inches. 15 to 20 inches, some places will get two feet of rain. Its moving that slow. And that rain has a tough time draining. Storm surge has it blocked. So the water. People really need to listen to the warnings. Have multiple ways to get information and warnings as the waters can be ib creditably dangerous. The wind as well. We talk about the leading cause of fatalities being water. But when you have a category 4 storm like this around that eyewall, devastating amount of damage right around that eyewall. So structural damage, powerlines, trees. And some serious damage right around that eyewall. And tornadoes. If there wasnt enough threats, we still have tornadoes. 90 of your tornadoes are on that right front quadrant. So as we follow the storm in, the right front quadrant is where you get 90 of the tornadoes. Everybody really need to stand by for some of those warnings as they get issued. So thats it. Theres an incredible amount of information thats coming. The one last thing i want to mention, even getting through the storm, its dangerous afterwards. Its no fun after these storms. Ok. Theres debris, theres you think about trees, powerlines, and please be careful with the generators. Weve seen over the last couple years in some of these big hurricanes, including hurricane laura that hit louisiana, there were more fatalities afterwards that was associated with generators than a similar storm surge of 16 to 18 feet. Please follow those instructions and really be careful after the fact. So anyway, thats all i have. Administrator criswell, just appreciate the partnership. We are all in this together. Were trying to make the country weather and climate ready. Together were able to do it. So thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Graham. Thank you. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] intrk [speaking spanish] admin. Criswell well take some questions now. Abc news. First, weve seen some very specific requests from Governor Desantis. At this point do you think the federal government has been able to get everything hes asked for or are there equipment you are trying to get in place . And any update on the evacuations are going . Is there a since of timing people might think today its too late to leave . Admin. Criswell let me start with the evacuation question. I listened to some of Governor Desantis briefing this morning. Again, the point is listen to your local officials. There are parts where they need to stay in place. Its too late to evacuate. They need to listen to what their local officials are telling them. This storm will continue to move across the state so there may be parts where its safe to evacuate. Its important theyre listening to their local officials because theyre doing what they can to make sure theyre keeping them safe. But they need to make plans for that, too, right . If they are going to stay in place, know how theyll communicate with their family. Thats why we put together this strong search and rescue capability so making sure we can go by air, land, and sea because we know there will be people impacted, isolated and will need rescue. First part of your question, again . So we are continuing to move in equipment as the governor asked for more equipment, i believe today he asked for more highwater vehicles and additional rescue capabilities and we are moving that in. We are going to continue to move kwichlt in as we see where the impacts of the storm are as well. And we prepositioned quite a bit of equipment so we can respond immediately. Once we know what the impacts are and what the Additional Needs are, well continue moving that equipment in. I think that we are positioned really well to meet those immediate needs in the first few hours. Once we know impacts and what else is needed, well continue to move that. Anyone else . I just had a question for director graham. We are seeing some reports of water receding in the tampa bay area. Can you explain why thats happening . Director graham these little small changes make a difference whether the water is pushed in from storm surge or literally blown out. When you have strong winds with a storm like that, you can push the water out. This is an important thing. Dont go out there. Right . Its so dangerous to be out there. Even if you see the water receding, its the time to go out there and look at it or collect shells or whatever it is. Weve seen that in these type of storms. When the winds calm down, winds decrease, that water comes back in and could be incredibly dangerous. Yes, ive seen some of the pictures and that can happen in these storms. Thats the power of the wind and where it can push the water. Thank you so much for doing this. I have a question for administrator criswell and a question for director graham if thats ok. Administrator criswell, how many fema personnel are in florida . Its an older population. We can see the image of older people trapped in floodwater. Can you tell us about the coordination with Nursing Homes and Senior Living facilities. Admin. Criswell absolutely. We have hundreds of personnel in the state already embedded in the state Emergency Management center as well staged in places like miami as well as in orlando and other parts. But we also have personnel that are staged in atlanta, georgia, at our Regional Office that are ready to move in. As the storm paces and we see where the needs are, well continue to move people in. That number will rise significantly over the following days and to make sure we have the resources in place to support the people that have the needs. I know that this, i believe and i was talking with gail. 30 of the population is over the age of 60 in many of these impacted areas. We know that will be a significant concern. When i talked to Governor Desantis on friday and asked one of his concerns, thats what it was. We put in place this robust search and rescue capability across the federal government to complement the amazing efforts the state already has in place for their search and rescue teams and the National Guard because we know well have to get out and check and make sure everybodys ok. Thats our First Priority and thats why we have this multiagency federal, state, local in place to map out where theyre ready to go. When i talked to our coordinating deputy officer this morning, he told me these teams will be designed to local jurisdictions, right, so they can go research places where they need their need is and that way were not having any gaps in the efforts that were doing. You called this storm historic. How does it compare to andrew, irma, michael . How does this make it similar or distinct to stomach of the storms to some of the storms . Director graham every storm is so different. An urgent plea, dont compare storms. There are s