Leon County urges year-round preparedness; director highlights mailed guide and alert app

Kevin Peters, Leon County emergency management director, urged residents to take immediate, practical steps to prepare for disasters year-round, citing local risks from heavy rain, wildfires, tropical weather and occasional winter storms.

"Our response model is broken into different emergency support functions," Peters said, describing a county plan that assigns roles — from transportation and public works to animal control and cybersecurity — across 20 support functions the county trains and exercises with partner agencies. "We create emergency management plans and checklists and processes that we would follow," he said.

Peters said the county focuses on three priorities: prepare, act and recover. For households, that starts with a family emergency plan that accounts for structural vulnerabilities (for example, mobile homes and manufactured housing are more wind-vulnerable), identifies safer nearby locations, and lists supplies and contact information for all family members, including pets. "Disasters know no season in Florida. So, the time to prepare is right now," he said.

As part of its outreach, Leon County will mail the Leon County Disaster Survival Guide to every household — "over 100,000 residents will receive it in the mail," Peters said — and promotes year‑round resources at leonready.com. He also highlighted the Citizens Connect app, which sends push notifications from the county’s Emergency Operations Center during activations.

Peters described the county’s pursuit and maintenance of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes "Hurricane Strong Community" recognition, achieved in partnership with FEMA after a top-to-bottom assessment of building codes, floodplain management, public outreach and emergency planning. He said the county supplements those standards through after-action reviews: "We've had over 300 findings from our recent disasters," he said, and the county has implemented about 220 areas of improvement.

To help neighborhoods prepare, Leon County offers a 30–45-minute neighborhood readiness training delivered by emergency management staff; residents can register at leonready.com. Peters also recommended simple mitigation steps such as trimming or removing diseased trees, assembling a disaster supply kit and checking insurance coverage.

For more information or personalized guidance, Peters listed the Emergency Management office phone at 850-606-3700 and directed residents to the county’s emergency information portal at leoncountyfl.gov/ei.

The interview closed with a reminder to download the Citizens Connect app, review the mailed Disaster Survival Guide, and update household emergency plans ahead of hurricane season.