Kristy Mathews

Emergency Manager @City of Fort Myers

Fort Myers, FL, US

I have the pleasure to be the first full time emergency management professional for the City! I started 3 months before Hurricane Ian. As the sole emergency management professional in the middle of a Cat 5 Hurricane, it was my job to lead the City through response. This means I was part of Unified Command, served as advisor to the Fire Chief who was acting as the Emergency Management Director, provided response framework guidance, attended and co-lead all Operations and Logistics Section meetings, and single-handedly produced IAPs and Situation Reports. I am solely responsible for our PA, lead the AAR-IP efforts generating an accurate snapshot of our response and actionable steps for improvement. During Hurricane Ian, I ensured the City had involvement and updates from the County by growing personal relationships and showing up daily to the County to get directly involved. As a result, we were able to more effectively manage our debris and marine debris removal activities, get the first DRC and mobile DRC, coordinate those DRC locations and direct DSA activities, establish multiple FEMA town halls and stay up to date on the real time activities from the County and State. I serve as the City’s representative for the LMS and on the DAC. As part of this role, I am heavily involved in HMGP. We submitted over 20 applications for Ian and are working through the RFI process. Additionally, I was one of the City’s representatives for the Resilient Lee Recovery Task Force, advocating for the City’s long term recovery needs. I have assisted with the CDBG-DR processes and application development. Blue skies I re-wrote the City’s Emergency Operations Plan and am building out response org charts, response plans, establishing a citywide inventory management system, reviewing and updating all disaster contracts, and developing checklists and guides for response. Additionally the City has many special events that I create the Event Action Plans and conduct AARs as needed and.

Florida State University

Bachelor's degree, International Relations and Affairs

Florida State University

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) , International Relations and Affairs

Florida State University

Public Administration