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A South Florida gathering of emergency managers and first responders from across the country kicked into high gear on Wednesday.
Former Palm Beach County Emergency Management Director Bill Johnson moderated the general session in West Palm Beach.
"Welcome to the General Session of the 37th Annual Governor's Hurricane Conference. And welcome to Palm Beach County...the best of everything."
Attendees heard from Florida's Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, who had a simple message.
"With just three weeks from the start of the 2023 Hurricane Season, now is the time to prepare."
She also discussed the message behind the theme of the gathering, "Partnering for Success."
"I can tell you that from our vantage point hurricane preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery efforts...they're only possible when we come together and we partner, indeed for success."
Nunez reminds Floridians that there will be two disaster-preparedness sales tax holidays this year, both running for 14-days. The first one starts on May 27th and the second on August 26th.
Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie took part in a panel discussion. He talked about the response to Hurricane Ian on the state's Gulf Coast.
"We did temporary repairs on water infrastructure. We were pulling experts from MIT and things like that. Again, it was a whole community response."
Ian was originally thought to be a Category 4 storm, but was recently upgraded by the National Hurricane Center to a Cat 5.
Joining Guthrie in the panel discussion was an emergency management official from Lee County and a FEMA administrator.
Attendees also heard a presentation from National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome at the Governor's Hurricane Conference which continues through Friday.