Before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, there was Hurricane Andrew which made landfall in Dade County Florida on August 24, 1991—30 years ago. The hurricane caused catastrophic damages. In this podcast, Kate Hale, the then County Emergency Management Director shares that experience with us. This all happened a year after I started in emergency management. It was a huge event that impacted emergency management for years afterward. Listen and learn from a professional emergency manager who lived through that experience, sleeping on chairs at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for weeks. She has tips all of us can use when it comes our turn to face the maelstrom of disaster. Hear what she has to say about disaster recovery and also being improvisational in the midst of a disaster.

This episode is sponsored by Unearth. Unearth’s emergency response software connects field responders and the command center, equipping teams with mobile tools for rapid damage assessments, real-time incident tracking, and seamless information sharing. Empower field teams where their work actually happens - reducing response times, optimizing resource management, and simplifying reporting with a dynamic, map-based field operations platform.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.