LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee County and the Collaboratory are using a $19 million grant from the EPA to strengthen disaster preparedness. Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski went to the Collaboratory to ask how they hope four new resilience hubs will help our community stay ready for anything.
Watch to see how Lee County is preparing for future storms:
These hubs will be set up at the Collaboratory, Franklin Park Elementary, the IMAG History and Science Center, and Pine Manor Community Center. The Collaboratory’s Chief Impact Officer, Tessa LeSage, says they’re designed to provide everyday services like food distribution and child care—then become lifelines when disasters like a hurricane strike.
“Prior to a disaster and leading up through hurricane season, they would do work for community education to help make sure people understand evacuation needs and things like that,” LeSage explained. “Then post-storm, they work with resilience hub coordinators in each hub to understand what those specific communities need and do the basic logistics that come post-disaster to get the people what they need without guessing.”
Plus, it’s not just about hurricanes.
LeSage says these hubs will be ready for anything, from pandemics to wildfires. She says the project also includes workforce training programs to up-skill local construction workers to prepare for rebuilding after a storm, and upgrades to the Ten Mile Canal to reduce flooding.
And these four hubs? LeSage says they’re a three-year pilot program that’s just the beginning.
“We have the opportunity to take those best practices that we learn and help others learn, then learn how to do it more quickly and hopefully have a whole network of resilience hubs here pretty quick,” said LeSage.
