preparing for adverse weather events and supporting communities when they do strike is a key part of public work's role across the country but one city has seen it all in recent years from Hurricane Harvey to barrel and many other events in between Houston Texas public works department has become something of an expert in big weather events now to hear more we're joined by Randy McKai who is Houston's Chief Operating Officer thank you so much for joining us today thank you for having me of course so in speaking about weather speak specifically on how important and how big a part that plays in the day-to-day life um in the city of Houston yeah it can't be understated uh literally for half of the year we kind of White Knuckle this thing called hurricane season we know that at any given time something can pop up in the gulf and we might get a little bit of warning but the impact can be severe because of the unpredictability of the storm and the reality is with weather we've seen it all um weather doesn't always have to be a rain event doesn't have to be a wind event last year our disaster was a drought in fact which had the exact opposite sort of impact that we would have normally expected and it impacts Public Works in ways that most people wouldn't possibly realize from the condition of our infrastructure to our water and our Wastewater pipes to the ability to get resources out to the field we're there for all of it from beginning during the crisis and in the recovery mode afterwards how have things changed in recent years it's been amazing one of the great things that's happened is Public Works has been able to step up and play that leadership role um we actively participate in all levels of conversations with City leadership as we get ready for a particular event we're out there many many days weeks in advance trying to do things we spend time throughout the year uh doing tabletop exercises to make sure that we know how exactly we need to be able to deploy where the resources have to go how we need to get it there and it puts us in that position that when the disaster does come we respond quickly we respond with precision and we get the job done effectively so talk us through the impact of this year's Duro and the hurricane on the city you know was interesting this Duro came out of nowhere literally uh it was really interesting in fact I had just left city council that day preparing uh our budget presentation for the upcoming fiscal year and you're driving home and it's a blue sky day and by the time I got home all of a sudden my phone started ringing about this crazy storm that had come through and it wre absolute havoc on our downtown area in specific many parts of the northern side of the community as well um it almost felt like a tornado of some sort had come through you know we had to get out there and respond with no warning in this sort of an instance whereas with a hurricane we have days to prepare typically this was one where we had to get out there right away and then just a few weeks later hurricane bur came through and we're back doing it all over again it's been really impressive to see how we partner with everybody throughout the community but especially in the city Side this is one of those things about being a first responder that most people don't realize we really are there first we're there to clear the roads so that police and fire can get to the areas that they need to get to we partner with them to help take care of dangerous situations we convert our equipment to high water rescue vehicles when it needs to happen there is something that is real and tangible about being a public works first responder in the impact that we have on the community and don't forget we're still providing Services through and after the water still has to get to people's homes they've still got to be able to flush their toilets and we might have some challenges in being able to deliver that but we deliver it nonetheless so now that you have all of that expertise from Houston what recommendations do you have for other cities big and small be in the conversation it's one of those things that can't be undersold be there with your elected leaders help them know that you're not just a response resource but that you're an active participant in these events figure out ways that you can provide more and higher levels of service throughout that so that you can get to the point where you're able to be more predictable proactive rather than just responsive the response is incredible and that and that is a really really important part of it but you can do so much more from a public work standpoint to help your municipality be ready to go when disaster strikes great advice Randy McKai thank you so much for joining us today thanks for having me [Music]