Volusia County Community Information Response to Hurricanes Ian and Nicole

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

In September and November 2022, Volusia County was severely impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, which brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding throughout the county, as well as severe erosion along the county's 47-mile coastline. Volusia County’s Community Information Division – which includes a community information director, four public information officers (PIOs), three audiovisual specialists, a webmaster, graphic designer and two administrative support employees – activated its Joint Information System Plan and established a Joint Information Center to share preparedness information, safety messaging, sandbag resources, shelter locations, evacuation orders, bridge closures and recovery efforts with the media and public. Community Information also activated the Public Information Network (PIN), which was formed in 2004 to ensure that PIOs collaborate, coordinate and communicate public information before, during and after significant disasters. The PIOs represent city and county governments, courts, first responders, hospitals, schools, universities, nonprofit agencies and the tourism industry. Throughout the activations, municipal and agency PIOs shared information with Volusia County’s PIOs, who were also collecting countywide information from local emergency management sources and messaging from state and federal partners. In the two weeks surrounding each incident, Community Information: • Disseminated 69 news releases • Issued 64 social media posts • Organized nine news conferences • Responded to more than 500 media inquiries • Made more than 1,000 website updates