Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey joins AccuWeather to explain how the city is gearing up for the upcoming storm.
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00:00the storm. It's going to be
00:01pretty tough. It's going to be
00:04pretty tough. It's going to be
00:05pretty tough. Florida's capital
00:07city has had several rough
00:09months weather wise from
00:11tornadoes in May to Hurricane
00:12Debbie in August, and now
00:14preparations are underway ahead
00:14of the storm expected to arrive
00:19on Tuesday. John Daly is the
00:21mayor of Tallahassee, and he
00:23joins us now Mayor Daly. How is
00:23Tallahassee gearing up and
00:27preparing for this storm? Well,
00:28first of all, I appreciate you
00:29bringing that up. It's great to
00:31have you on the show. Thank you
00:33for having me on the show as we
00:33have a couple more days to
00:37prepare. Yeah, look, it seems
00:39like we are going through this
00:41exercise every 3 to 6 months
00:43Tallahassee will be prepared.
00:44We have to wait and see what
00:45the strength of the storm is
00:47going to be as it comes towards
00:48us, and this is projected to be
00:49a major hurricane by landfall.
00:52Yeah, and of course, the
00:54Accuweather forecast again has
00:55always talked about landfall on
00:57Thursday impacts for you
00:59right now. You're not that far
01:01away from the coast, and the
01:03problem is you could be looking
01:05at a eye wall coming right in
01:07here with the worst of the
01:09conditions into the city. And
01:11you know, like you said, you've
01:13had extreme weather before. But
01:15how are you preparing the city
01:17for perhaps perhaps wind gusts
01:19well in excess of 75 76 MPH?
01:23No, that's a great question,
01:24and you're absolutely right.
01:25It's projected to be a direct
01:27hit on Tallahassee. We're only
01:29about 2.5 miles inland from the
01:31coast, so we're expecting a
01:33significant wind storm and
01:35obviously significant rain event
01:37as well. The city is currently
01:39preparing around the clock as we
01:41speak. We're stationing our
01:42assets all over the city as we
01:44always do in preparation. We
01:46will have our personnel all over
01:48the city as well and safe places
01:50so that once the storm does come
01:52through, we're going to hunker
01:53down. We're going to weather the
01:54storm, and then we'll make our
01:55assessments as soon as it's done
01:57and we'll get out. We'll start
01:58our assessments and then we'll
01:59make our assessments. So right
02:01now we're encouraging all of our
02:03residents. Now is the time to
02:04take care of business. It's
02:06actually a beautiful day outside
02:08right now with the sunshine. Get
02:09out there. Take care of
02:10yourself, your family, your
02:11friends, your neighbor. Secure
02:13your homes secure all of your
02:15belongings because once we get
02:17into the dangerous areas, we
02:19need everybody to stay at home
02:20or go somewhere safe. But the
02:23city will be prepared. And
02:25Mayor Daly, tornadoes and high
02:26winds are going to be a big
02:28concern in the last couple
02:29months. Is further tree damage
02:31a concern with this storm and
02:33then the possible power outages?
02:35Well, of course, we are
02:37expecting significant power
02:38outages. If it's a major storm,
02:40any community that suffers a
02:41major storm is going to have
02:43significant power outages. And
02:44yes, we are a tree city USA.
02:46It's one of the things that
02:47we're known for, and we are a
02:49beautiful community. But as you
02:51know, high winds, storms and
02:52trees don't mix. And so yes, we
02:55are expecting a major storm or
02:57higher hurricane that comes
02:59directly to Tallahassee. We'll
03:00have to wait and see what
03:01Mother Nature brings. We'll do
03:03a full assessment. We've called
03:04in our mutual aid agreements
03:06from all across the country.
03:07We're going to have additional
03:08personnel here to help us out.
03:10We are prepared. We just have
03:11to wait and see what happens.
03:13And of course, Debbie, not that
03:16long ago, making landfall as
03:18the as a as a hurricane. How
03:21was the recovery going in your
03:24community? Well, it was a
03:25breakthrough. You know,
03:27Tallahassee was able to to to
03:29address our needs immediately.
03:31Obviously, when you look at the
03:32entire Gulf Coast of North
03:34Florida, we all got hit really
03:36hard in North Florida suffered
03:38quite a bit. But we are strong
03:40here in Tallahassee, and we're
03:42going to weather this storm
03:43just like we've weathered
03:44previous storms. We will be
03:46prepared. We've called in our
03:47mutual aid assets from all
03:49across the United States.
03:50They'll be stationed. They'll be
03:52ready to respond. We're just
03:53going to wait and see what
03:55happens. But I just want to
03:56thank everyone. Now's the time
03:58to take care of business and
03:59let's be safe. Once the storm
04:02gets here. Tallahassee Mayor
04:03John Daly. Thanks so much again