 Good afternoon. I'm Teresa Wilson Columbia City Manager and as we did yesterday and will hopefully continue to do weather permitting We are here with all of our partners Agency partners the county and others to continue to brief our public on our Preparations for hurricane Florence. We are hoping and praying for the best But certainly prepared for the worst in the event that things take a turn tomorrow We want to ensure to the public that all city and county service delivery is intact and ready to go Which it is and we know that many of our partners also have some pertinent updates for the public So as we will continue to do we want to give you real-time information also Recognizing the wonderful work that the state EMD is doing as they finish their presser We hope to to bring this information to you on a live local basis as well with the Midlands impact Keeping that a priority for you at this time We will let mere Steve Benjamin give some opening comments and updates and as we did yesterday We will go through updates with many of our partners who have joined us today and have follow-up question and answer Thank you We'll work to keep things very concise So I continue to be incredibly impressed By our team here to see the Columbia our partners at Richland County incredible Education leaders who've taken things to a like a whole not a level Recognizing that they serve the needs of the entire child entire family Feeding and sheltering our citizens from here in Richland County But also our friends from all around the state who are visiting us in this time of of great need We're gonna follow the same protocol as Yesterday many of you know that hurricane Florence is currently a cat one hurricane. I'm still very dangerous seeing the Devastation that's happening on our coast right now 75 mile power winds Moving west at six miles per hour a slow moving storm which gives us all great concern for a number of different Reasons right now. It's located 35 miles Southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina We still expect the storm to be here Between Saturday and Sunday. We're gonna get some showers tonight and some heavy winds We all feel them outside already and we expect heavy downpours all day tomorrow Well into the night and then again on Sunday with rain continuing into into Sunday night, I will say this and I'm gonna pass on to Our subject matter experts our law enforcement officers and emergency Responders I know our superintendents are gonna speak on behalf of the school districts for the updates and John ando From the comet. I'm so thankful to be surrounded by my colleagues on on on city council counsel Mr. McDowell I miss a Duval mr. Davis mayor pro tem divine Mr. Rickman and of course our senior leader mr. Davis Surrounded by our friends on the Richland County council as well Norman Jackson and Jim Manning Miss McBride and I know some of our other members couldn't be here out of town or tending to the needs In their respective areas or at their homes our leaders from Richland school district to a chairman Craig Excuse me a new chair chair a woman and then your Mac Mackey former chair Craig Plank and I think those are the two commissions from Richland to of course our commissioners from Richland school district district one I'm able chairwoman share a Harris and I'm not sure if mr. Divine is here with us now if Mrs. Divine is here I may or pretend that mr. Divine is probably with their children so Someone's got to take care of home right right mom and obviously Our superintendent is here as well our superintendents from both both districts We're always very happy to have a leader of the comet with us John Ando and Representing our robust and strong business community Carl Blackstone the president CEO of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Everyone else on the program. I think you're probably gonna hear from did I miss anything or I miss anyone? Harry will try not to speak but I would say Harry tinsley and I know that the city manager will reiterate Is amazing Professional we're so thankful to have his leadership here and also I'm happy to have Dalton Tresmen represent in the office of congressman Jim Coburn He's been president in all of our Meetings every day we've been meeting to go over the issues of the day get an update and make sure we're continuing to prepare For this ever-changing storm. So thank you all for being here. I think I've covered everything and everyone It was important for me to know then of course Tiffany. Thank you for being here with John as well Because it's important that our citizens know in this time of great need that we're all working together They were all working together in our collective interests and when we communicate. It's amazing. We can get done I believe that in the response of hurricane Joaquin. We responded well recovered. Well, you learn from those Experiences, however how to prepare even better and constant communication helps us prepare for whatever may come So we're preparing and and we're praying so Thank you Madam city manager and we pass it off to our police chief skip Holbrook. Please Thank You mayor It's a privilege to be part of this team to work with our trusted partners to keep our citizens safe We are at a high state of readiness As I mentioned yesterday We've all of our pre-storm requests have been met I'm also also warm personnel. That's administrative personnel Criminal investigations division Everybody starts on 12-hour shifts tonight We'll work closely with the Sheriff's Department on response teams just like we did in in 15 Again, we we want to emphasize as this storm starts to unfold here locally We ask that everyone stay off the roadway. I'll keep the roads open so we can respond to assist when necessary and If you see water don't drop through water That is a just a huge risk and we have barricades pre-stage But there are always areas that may pop up that we may not have something pre-stage. So Stay off the roadways and avoid hot water. Thank you Our joint search and rescue teams are positioned and they're ready to go. So we're just sitting back and waiting If any of our citizens have to leave their homes and go to a shelter I want them to be assured that they're gonna go to a safe environment We've got soldiers from the South Carolina State Guard and we'll have look our law enforcement people will be there Protecting those that in shelters. So I don't want anybody to be afraid to go to a shelter It is a very safe environment. I went and visited Ridgeview today Saw there. We had soldiers on duty there, you know, everybody's just sitting there waiting and riding this storm out So, you know, I think that's very important to understand that that we're ready law enforcement's ready Our military here with the South Carolina State Guard is ready. We're gonna protect you We're gonna protect you if you have to go to a shelter. We're gonna protect your home We're going to protect your property also This is a joint effort and we've got a big team and we're ready to respond Again, you know, we worked together. This is not a situation where we want to work together We must rather be training together than working in this situation but just one in mind everybody just watch out for those down power lines and If your lights do go out, just make sure that you know, I keep hearing over and over people telling people use counters That's something that we just want to shy away from make sure you get flashlights We are ready to respond. We'll be putting our Tree folks on duty tonight at seven o'clock. So we have the downed trees We're we want to make sure that There's the response can get through those roads if we have the downed trees Tomorrow, we'll be putting on our swift water rescue Teams to make sure that we do have those heavy rains and floods that we can get to folks So if anything occurs always remember dial 911 call 911 and So that we can come out to assist you. We should want to make sure that everybody is safe Again, we have a pair. We're working with our partners We're partnering up with the police department and the sheriff department to effect those rescue So just be a visit and be watchful during the storm Good afternoon On behalf of Columbia water I want to just let our customers know that that we have implemented our emergency preparedness plans And we're ready We're I'm really proud of our staff and the level of preparedness that we have for for what may come in terms of heavy rainfalls and wind event Our staff supplies and equipment have been pre-positioned We're going to be utilizing technology to the maximum extent possible to keep our employees safe While we remotely monitor the conditions within our operating systems our water and wastewater distribution and collection systems We're going to monitor during the storm And we're going to respond to issues as soon as it's safe to get our folks out and in the field and responding So employees safety and the caring for our staff is very important as well Finally, I want to just mention if for any non-emergency related concerns or our service request If if our citizens will please call our customer care hotline at 803-545-3300 We will log that that issue and respond as soon as it's safe to do so. Thank you I also want to say from a public work standpoint that we've prepared For the last week we've prepared for our stormwater systems to make sure they're clean as we talked about yesterday We over the past few days. We've planned we've planned our response now. It's time to respond So our crews are ready. They're trained and they're ready to respond in case of an emergency I don't think we can stress safety enough and the safety that we talk about is down power lines down power lines Can be lapped wrapped around a tree lemon if the power goes out that line may still be energized Leave that job to the professionals. Let them take care of that make the call to the 545 3300 number so our staff can respond also do not drive through flooded waters. We don't want anybody hurt. Thank you Good afternoon first and foremost the safety of our passengers staff and operators are of primary concern With that said as you're aware, we suspended service yesterday September 13th at 5 30 p.m. Transit service does remain suspended until further notice this allows us to Be ready to utilize our vehicles if there are any evacuation needs that occurred during this emergency We'll continue to keep the public informed through the media through our hotline at 803-255 7118 at our website at catch the comment at org through social media Facebook Twitter and Instagram at catch the comment and through our trans look app And we encourage folks to please check those regularly to know about service restoration We'll continue to work with first responders and the officials of the city of Columbia Richland and Lexington counties and we thank them for their work in this challenging environment Good afternoon as stated yesterday, we do pride ourselves in working with local law enforcement both in the city of Columbia and also Richland County and that being said Richland one has Agreed to provide shelter service when needed at lower Richland High School and also AC Flora High School We will be working again with law enforcement as Sheriff lot has stated in terms of of staging and staffing Making sure that that those facilities and that that environment is safe and secure If and when needed also want to say thank you to again to the administrators and teachers that have been providing meals and services for students these last few days and As the governor had indicated earlier in the week, you know the school systems Multiple school systems are closed and that was until further notice so we will continue to monitor the situation through the weekend and through the First of next week to see what we hear either from the governor's office or How the situation evolves throughout this weekend. Thank you I Stated by Superintendent dr. Witherspoon our school districts and the school districts in the millions continue to be closed by order of the governor It's important that you stay abreast of Up-to-date information by following the school districts At their various social media websites or mediums of Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course the district's web pages Our maintenance staffs in Richland to have prepared our schools For the storm or we cleared out debris In any obstruction or objects that may be out or lose to secure those items to make sure that they don't blow out into the street and cause any other further distractions or Unsafe issues of we've had a total of about 82 evacuees right now at Richview High School We will continue the Red Cross will continue to accept evacuees as long as conditions are safe And that they're able to safely get there and be allowed to enter but please show up if you should need Shelter that location is at 48 48 oh one Heart Scrabble Road. That's again 48 oh one heart Scrabble Road We continue to provide lunches for our students as well as mills for those evacuees That are seeking shelter at at the Ridgeview Location as well as Dent Middle School for our students So we're serving lunches at Dent Middle School and Ridgeview High School We're also providing meals for those individuals who are in the shelter at at Ridgeview High School We sent out about 50 backpacks We sent our social workers assisted us in getting some emergency backpack items out into some of the more Remote areas and areas where students may not have the ability to get to those locations I will provide them with additional meals and supplies to help them during the storm And again depending on the impact of the storm over the weekend will continue to monitor monitor the weather And listening for any updates from the governor's office regarding the closing of schools or the opening of schools I want to take an opportunity to again also think our Richland to employees our parents our students our board members and all those individuals Administrators who volunteer their time in services to come out to ensure that our students in our schools as well as our community That has evacuated to our locations Are in a safe and secure environment? Their spirits are up and participating Interacting with them as we all prepare to deal with deal with the outcomes of the storm. Thank you Wrap this up and any We're all available for for questions. Obviously we are It's clear we're working together and we we have robust conversations with the hospital systems All of our other service providers homeless service providers Obviously Lexington rich in five also looped into these conversations. So we're working together. We're going to continue doing so Happy to have any any questions that myself So we are the way the sheltering system works per South Carolina Protocol with through EMD the municipalities work through the county So we are in constant communication with Richland County and there are several additional shelters that are being Stood up as we speak and we'll be ready as the county is ready to announce those Obviously Ridgeview as you've heard is is as open as it fills up then additional shelters will come online such as AC floor Laura Richland is as they were mentioned as big Hopefully Red Cross type ready shelters But a lot of churches in our area have already volunteered their services for assistance as well so the the protocol we take is to Stage sometimes depending on what if you remember in the flood of 2015 We have to move people quickly if there's a high water issue or rescue issue Get them moved and then get them safely moved to the shelters that the county makes available to us Absolutely Clint will talk to you again today and probably say what he said yesterday about our headgates So as of yesterday afternoon, we actually closed off our headgate structure So we've we've blocked any inflow into the canal that may be coming in from a high river level Obviously if we have a high-intensity rainfall event within the city itself some of that drainage will go into the canal directly We're prepared for that with the outlet structures to be able to to evacuate that water from the canal System the rock dam is in place. It is very robust solution In the event that something Unforeseen should happen We also have temporary pumps and piping and equipment in place to be able to pump water directly from the river So we are we're in a high state of readiness and preparedness With regard to Richland County and shelters currently open has already been said Ridgeview high school Francis Burns United Methodist Church at 56 16 Farrell Road is currently open and open Scheduled open at 5 p.m. This evening Shannon Baptist Church 52 54th Drive temple of faith 2850 Congruy Road in Gatston Trinity Church at 1501 Holbrook Drive Columbia Washington Street United Methodist Church 1401 Washington Street Grace United Methodist Church 410 Harbison Boulevard and Shandon United Methodist Church at 3407 Divine Street and And a couple of them are pet friendly So if you want more information you can see me after and The public information office has put this out on Facebook and and Twitter a couple hours ago. Thank you Thank you all and thank you all again for doing the important Role that you do and constantly sharing information. We know sometimes it seems repetitive But sometimes folks might not catch it and it's important to keep pushing it out We encourage everyone. Let's enjoy this time. We have with our families right now We got some time off from school some time off from work. That's a cleave to each other And enjoy these brief moments because we're gonna get through this storm We're gonna go back right back to work and back to school very soon. God bless y'all. Thank y'all