* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [Press Conference: "Flood Insurance Billboard Campaign"] [00:00:18] ALL RIGHT. GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. MY NAME IS LEE VELA. I'M WITH CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR, AND WE'RE SO HONORED TO BE HERE WITH YOU TODAY TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THIS, A VERY IMPORTANT, UH, INSURANCE, UH, PROGRAM, UH, FOR FLOODING IN OUR AREA. I THINK EVERYONE HERE CAN AGREE THAT THE FLOOD CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME. UH, LOOK OUT THE WINDOWS RIGHT NOW, AND IT DOESN'T TAKE A PLAYING YOUR ROLE. AND CERTAINLY IT LOOKS LIKE THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON. IT'S THE MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT UNITE US TO BRING ABOUT COLLABORATION, TO LOOK OUT FOR HOUSTONIANS IN THE COMING MONTHS. WE'VE ALREADY HAD A COUPLE OF EXTREME STORMS, UH, KINGWOOD. WE SAW COMING DAYS OF RAIN WORKING WITH THE CONROE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICIALS ALL THE WAY UP TO LAKE LIVINGSTON AND POLK COUNTY. THE MORE RECENT, UH, WINDSTORMS CAUGHT US BY SURPRISE. THERE'S PROBABLY NO WAY WE SAW WHAT WAS COMING. IT WAS INTENSE, IT WAS SUDDEN. BUT IT IS A REMINDER THAT WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. WE'RE IN A RECOVERY MODE DEALING WITH THE . SO LET'S STOP. LET'S USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO RECOMMIT OURSELVES TO HURRICANE, UH, PREPARATION, RECOVERY. AND IT STARTS WITH EDUCATION. AND PART OF THAT EDUCATION PROCESS IS GONNA BE CARRIED OUT BY CLEAR CHANNEL WITH THE NOTICE THAT YOU DO NEED FLOOD INSURANCE. AND, UH, WITH THAT SAID, UH, I'LL YIELD TO OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, BUT IT'S EDUCATION. EDUCATION. GET READY, GET YOUR SUPPLIES, TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. WORK FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON. SOLID WASTE IS ACTUALLY ON THE JOB AS WE TALK NOW IN A RECOVERY MODE, AND THEY'LL BE PREPARED FOR WHATEVER STORM COMES FORWARD. IF WE LIVE RIGHT, WHICH I'M DOING MY PART, MAYBE WE'LL BE REWARDED. MAYBE WE'LL BE REWARDED AND THE STORMS WILL AVOID IT THIS YEAR. SO I GUESS ONE OF MY ENDING MESSAGES, IT'S NOT GOING TO DO ANY GOOD FOR ME TO LIVE, RIGHT IF I DON'T HAVE A ROLL CALL, BUT, BUT VERY SERIOUS NOTE, WE'VE GOT TO BE READY. WE ARE READY. THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS DEMONSTRATED MANY TIMES HOW WE COME TOGETHER. WE PREPARE FOR STORMS, OUR FIRST RESPONDERS, GIVE THEM A SHOUT OUT. AND, YOU KNOW, I INCLUDE NOT ONLY FIRE POLICE, BUT SOLID WASTE AND PUBLIC WORKS AND THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT. WE'RE ACTUALLY IN THE PROCESS, MEMBERS OF GETTING SOME REALLY GOOD NEWS OF PUTTING GENERATORS AT, AT OUR, UH, MULTI-SERVICE CENTERS. THERE'S A CORPORATION WE MET WITH YESTERDAY. WE'RE JUST REAL CLOSE TO ANNOUNCING THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT GENERATORS AT OUR MULTI-SERVICE CENTERS, WHICH ARE NOW PRETTY MUCH USED YEAR ROUND FOR EITHER WARMING CENTERS OR COOLING CENTERS. SO THINGS ARE HAPPENING AS POSITIVE AND LOOK AT THE UNITY THAT THIS OPPORTUNITY BRINGS TOGETHER. THANK YOU, LEE, AND CLEAR CHANNEL. THANK YOU, BOB. HAL, WE ALL KNOW THE IMPORTANCE THAT HOUSTON REALTORS PLAY IN THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA. SO, SO, UH, OUR FRIEND, BILL BALDWIN, WHO'S I THINK IS STILL RUNNING YOUR INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST REWARDING TO SEE THE, UH, FIRM TOGETHER OF HOUSTON IS IMPRESSED. YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY. SO THANK YOU. AND I'LL YIELD AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYOR, FOR, UH, YOUR LEADERSHIP [00:05:01] IN THE CITY, AND WE CERTAINLY WANNA THANK THE, UH, THE LEADERSHIP WE SEE BEHIND US TODAY AS WELL. UH, MAYOR PROTI KA TATUM, UH, VICE MAYOR PROTI, UH, PECK, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS. COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ. COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ, COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER, COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CAMAN AND COUNCIL MEMBER DAVIS. SO THANK YOU ALL FOR, FOR BEING HERE TODAY AND SPENDING YOUR SUPPORT TO THIS VERY, VERY, THAT MISS. ANYBODY? OKAY, GOOD. OH, PLUMBER. OH, I DIDN'T SEE HER COMING. CAPTAIN OF A PLUMBER. I DIDN'T SEE HER COMING IN, BUT THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. AND, UM, IT SHOWS THE, AS THE MAYOR SAID, UNITY IN OUR CITY AND OUR AREA FOR ALL THE, ALL THESE LEADERS TO BE HERE, UH, SUPPORTING THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. SO WE APPRECIATE THAT. UM, SO NOW WE WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, ABOUT THE WEATHER. AND WE HAVE, UH, JEFF JEFFREY EVANS HERE, WHO IS THE, UH, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE FOR THE HOUSTON GALVESTON, UH, AT THE, UM, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. HE'LL BE SPEAKING ABOUT THE NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HURRICANE FORECAST THIS YEAR, AND WHY THAT MAKES THE NEED FOR FLOOD INSURANCE EVEN GREATER THAN USUAL. WELCOME, JEFFREY. GREAT. THANK YOU ALL. IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE WITH THE MAYOR AND, AND WITH THE FULL COUNCIL, AND JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS MESSAGE REALLY IS. AND I JUST WANNA ECHO, UH, REALLY WHAT THE MAYOR JUST SAID IS THAT, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH AS, AS A FEDERAL AGENCY, WE WORK WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE VERY CLOSELY. WHEN STORMS START APPROACHING WHERE WE START DEALING WITH RISKS, IT'S REALLY UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL TO KNOW WHAT THEIR, UH, WHAT THEY NEED. AND THIS IS THE TIME TO REALLY ASSESS THAT THIS IS THE TIME BEFORE A STORM, UH, TO GET YOUR PLANS TOGETHER. AND, AND, AND IN PARTICULAR, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT FLOOD INSURANCE IS ONE OF THOSE BIG PIECES OF THE PUZZLE. UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU START DEPENDING ON OTHER PEOPLE, UH, WHEN YOU GET A DISASTER, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A ROUGHER ROAD FOR YOU. SO WE REALLY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE, UH, TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. UH, AND THEN THE REASON THIS MESSAGE IS, IS VERY STRONG THIS TIME OF YEAR IS BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON. UM, IT'S NOT THE MESSAGE I LIKE TO SPREAD, UH, BUT WE'VE SEEN HOW WARM AND HOT WE AND HUMID WE ALREADY ARE. UH, WE'RE BARELY IN THE JUNE, WE'RE ALREADY SEEING OVERNIGHT LOWS OF 80 DEGREES. UH, THE WATER TEMPERATURES IN THE GULF OF MEXICO ARE LATE SUMMER TEMPERATURES ALREADY. UH, THAT'S, THAT'S THE FUEL, THAT'S WHAT THESE HURRICANES NEED TO INTENSIFY TO DEVELOP. UH, SO THAT'S A BIG PIECE OF THAT. AND UNFORTUNATELY, THE ATMOSPHERE AS WE GET DEEPER INTO THE SEASON, THE SEASON RUNS FROM JUNE ALL THE WAY, UH, TO THE END OF NOVEMBER FOR OUR AREA, REALLY INTO ABOUT MID TO LATE OCTOBER. UH, AS WE GET DEEPER INTO THE SUMMER, THE ATMOSPHERE PATTERN IS GOING TO GET QUIETER AND ALLOW A MORE FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THESE STORMS TO GROW UP IN THE CARIBBEAN, IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. SO OFFICIALLY, THE, UH, THE NOAH IS FORECASTING BETWEEN 17 AND 25, UH, TROPICAL STORMS OR HURRICANES, UH, UP TO 13 HURRICANES, AND UP TO SEVEN OF THOSE COULD BE MAJOR HURRICANES. THAT'S A CATEGORY THREE, FOUR OR FIVE HURRICANE. THESE ARE BIG NUMBERS. UH, IT'S A BIG NUMBERS FOR THE CARIBBEAN, THE ATLANTIC BASE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY SAY WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE GOING TO GET HIT OR NOT. UH, IT'S BEEN 41 YEARS SINCE WE'VE HAD A CATEGORY THREE IMPACT, UH, THE HOUSTON AREA, THAT WAS ALICIA IN 1983. THAT'S A LONG TIME TO SAY THAT WE'RE OVERDUE IS, IS A UNDERSTATEMENT. WE ARE DUE FOR A BIG STORM. UH, EACH STORM IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. UH, AS WE'VE WITNESSED WITH, UH, ALLISON, AS WE WITNESSED WITH HARVEY IN 2017, AND A MEL IN 2019. UH, WE CAN GET TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF RAINFALL, EVEN WITH QUOTE UNQUOTE JUST A TROPICAL STORM. IT DOESN'T TAKE A MAJOR HURRICANE TO HAVE A BIG IMPACT. UH, WE FLOOD VERY EASILY HERE. UH, WE ARE FLOOD PRONE AREA. SO THIS IS THE TIME THIS FLOOD INSURANCE IS REALLY KEY. UH, JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T FLOOD IN AMELDA, JUST 'CAUSE YOU DIDN'T FLOOD IN HARVEY, DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE NOT GONNA NEED FLOOD INSURANCE FOR THE NEXT STORM. UH, I HEAR THAT ALL THE TIME. I DIDN'T FLOOD IN HARVEY, SO I SHOULD BE GOOD. NO, NOT NECESSARILY. MAYBE YOUR AREA DIDN'T GET THE 59 INCHES OF RAIN, UH, THAT DICKINSON GOT. UH, SO IT ALSO JUST TAKES ONE THING TO FLOAT DOWN A NEIGHBORHOOD AND PLUG THE DRAINAGE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT BACKS INTO YOUR HOUSE. UH, YOU TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS WITH HARVEY WHO HAD FLOOD INSURANCE. FOR THOSE THAT DIDN'T, IT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT RECOVERY PROCESS. IT'S, IT'S, IT'S REALLY, UH, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE, UH, THAT FLOOD INSURANCE IN PLACE. THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR TO ADD THAT. I KNOW WE'RE ALL TRYING TO CUT COSTS, UH, BUT THIS IS NOT A COST TO CUT. UH, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. IT TAKES 30 DAYS BEFORE WHEN YOUR APPLICATION GETS IN TILL THE FLOOD INSURANCE STARTS. YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR A STORM TO BE OUT THERE IN THE GULF AND SAY, NOW IS THE TIME I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND ADD IT. NOW. I'M AFRAID THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR TO ADD THAT. UM, SO I JUST WANNA CLOSE. AS AS SAID EARLIER, IT DOESN'T EVEN TAKE A HURRICANE. IT DOESN'T EVEN TAKE A TROPICAL STORM. WE CAN [00:10:01] GET FLOODS FROM JUST NORMAL, NORMAL, UH, AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. UH, SO, UH, AGAIN, DON, DON'T HESITATE, DON'T WAIT. UH, GET YOUR FAMILY PREPARED. UH, YOU'RE NOT GONNA HAVE A LOT OF NOTICE. A LOT OF TIMES, EVEN WITH A BIG HURRICANE, UH, ALICIA, THE, AS I MENTIONED, 1983, A CATEGORY THREE THAT MADE LANDFALL RIGHT NEAR HOUSTON, BROUGHT A LOT OF WIND DAMAGE LIKE THE DERECHO, BUT OVER A MUCH BIGGER AREA OF HOUSTON. WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 72 HOURS NOTICE FROM FORMATION TO WHAT WAS MAKING LANDFALL. SO YOU'RE NOT ALWAYS GONNA HAVE FIVE TO SEVEN DAYS TO WATCH THIS ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL AND HAVE JIM SHOW UP ON GALVESTON BEACH AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AND GET THAT ENERGY GOING. SO GET YOUR PLANS TOGETHER, UH, GET YOUR, UH, YOUR, UH, IF YOUR EVACUATION, IF YOU'RE ALONG THE COAST, KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GONNA GO WHEN YOU'RE GONNA GO. UH, THIS IS THE TIME TO REALLY START HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS. SO ANYWAY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS MORNING AND WE'LL, WE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HOPE FOR THE BEST, BUT WE NEED A PLAN FOR THE WORST. THANK YOU, JEFFREY. AND I SAW COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD COME IN. SO THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER FUR BEING HERE WITH US HERE TODAY. UM, OF COURSE, NONE OF THIS CAMPAIGN THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF THE, UH, RESOURCES OF THE HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. IT'S 48,000 MEMBERS ACROSS THE REGION, MAKE IT THE LARGEST PROFESSIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATION IN HOUSTON, AND THE SECOND LARGEST REALTOR ASSOCIATION IN THE COUNTRY. UH, AND BOB HALE'S HERE WITH US, BUT THANK YOU BOB, FOR BEING HERE AS WELL. UM, BUT WE WANT TO HEAR FROM THE CHAIR RIGHT NOW. AND THE HAR CHAIR IS THOMAS MUTAN THOMAS, THANK YOU ALL. MY NAME IS THOMAS MUTAN AND I AM PROUD TO BE YOUR 2024 CHAIR OF THE HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. I WANT TO FIRST THANK MAYOR WHITMAR FOR ALLOWING US TO BE HERE AT THIS PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY AT CITY HALL, AND TAKING TIME OUTTA HIS BUSY SCHEDULE TO BE HERE. I ALSO WANT TO THANK ALL THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT ARE HERE IN ATTENDANCE. I WANT TO THANK LEE FELLOW WITH CLEAR CRAN OUTDOORS FOR BEING SUCH AN AMAZING PARTNER ON THIS CAMPAIGN AS WELL. LASTLY, I WANNA THANK BOB HILL, OUR PRESIDENT AND CEO AT H-A-R-A-H-A-R STAFF THAT'S HERE, AS WELL AS MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS THAT'S HERE IN ATTENDANCE AS WELL. WE HAVE ABOUT 48,000 MEMBERS OF HAR, AND WE ARE THE FRONT LINES WITH OUR CLIENTS WHEN THEY EXPERIENCE A TRAGEDY. THE INFORMATION JEFFREY SHARED JUST NOW SHOULD BE A WARNING TO EVERYONE IN OUR REGION. BUT AS WE ENTERED THE HURRICANE SEASON, ALL OF OUR MEMBERS WANT TO ENCOURAGE CITIZENS ACROSS THE AREA TO OBTAIN FLOOD INSURANCE. THERE IS A NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS PRIVATE INSURANCE PROGRAM AS WELL. HERE WE AT HR HAVE ESTABLISHED A WEBSITE TO PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR OPTIONS AND RISKS INVOLVED WITH FLOODING AT HR.COM/FLOOD. A REMINDER, LIKE JEFFREY SAID, THERE IS A 30 DAY WAITING PERIOD UNTIL THE INSURANCE POLICY BECOMES EFFECTIVE. SO NOW IT'S THE TIME. IT'S HEARTBREAKING WHEN WE HAVE A HOMEOWNER WHO DID NOT HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE AND DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDS TO REPAIR OR TO REBUILD. WE SAW THIS FOLLOWING HURRICANE HARVEY AND WHEN PEOPLE JUST HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM THEIR HOMES WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. FLOOD INSURANCES ISN'T JUST FROM HOMEOWNERS, AS RENTERS CAN ALSO PURCHASE CONTENT COVERAGE TO REPLACE THEIR BELONGINGS AS WELL. I KNOW THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM AND THE PRIVATE INSURANCE HAS BOTH INCREASED THEIR PREMIUMS DUE TO MOUNTAIN NATIONAL DISASTERS, NOT ONLY IN OUR AREA, BUT ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS WELL. FLOOD INSURANCE IS STILL A NECESSITY AS PART OF LIVING IN OUR REGION. IT'S BETTER TO HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE IN CASE OF A NATIONAL DISASTER AND LOSE YOUR HOME AND YOUR BELONGINGS. SO JUST ONE MORE TIME. OUR WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION AND RESOURCES IS HR.COM BLOOD. AND AT THIS TIME, I WANT TO INTRODUCE RICK GONZALEZ, MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBER TO TRANSLATE THIS MESSAGE IN SPANISH. RICARDO GONZALEZ THETA. [00:16:45] THANK YOU SO MUCH, RICARDO, FOR, UH, WITH 38% OF OUR POPULATION IN THIS AREA, ACCORDING TO THE US CENSUS BUREAU IS HISPANIC AND SPEAKING SPANISH, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THESE WORD WORD OUT IN ABOUT ALL OF THIS IN, IN BOTH LANGUAGES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. UM, WE'RE HERE TODAY TO LAUNCH THIS PROGRAM AND CLEAR CHANNEL IS VERY, VERY COMMITTED TO HELPING KEEP, UH, THE AREA SAFE. UH, NOT ONLY THROUGH DONATIONS LIKE THIS, UH, WHICH WILL BE OVER 160 BILLBOARDS OVER SIX MONTHS, UM, BUT ALSO WITH, AND WITH OUR DIGITAL BOARDS. WE OPERATE THE GULF COAST EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, WORKING WITH FIVE COUNTIES TO BE, TO BE ABLE TO PUT UP EMERGENCY MESSAGING WHEN AND WHEN WE, WHEN AND IF WE DO HAVE ANOTHER STORM. SO WE HAVE WORKED OUT THE PROTOCOLS WITH THE HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICES IN THOSE COUNTIES TO BE ABLE TO DISPLAY THAT INFORMATION INSTANTLY ON OUR DIGITAL BOARDS. UH, SO THAT'S A BIG PART OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS. THIS PROGRAM IS SO IMPORTANT TO REACH ALL THE RESIDENTS IN THIS ENTIRE AREA, NOT JUST THE CITY OF HOUSTON, OBVIOUSLY, BUT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE AREA. AND CURRENTLY WE HAVE 49 OF THOSE WARDS UP RIGHT NOW, UH, AND THEY'RE GONNA CREATE 34.5 MILLION MARKET IMPRESSIONS IN THE FIRST MONTH ALONE. SO IT'S, IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THAT WORD OUT. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO, TO TALK, TELL OUR NEIGHBORS, TALK TO EACH OTHER, AND, AND, AND STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, UH, AND TO URGE PEOPLE TO LOOK. AND, AND, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE FIGURE SAID EVERY, EVERYTHING COSTS MORE THESE DAYS. AND UNFORTUNATELY, THAT'S THE TRUTH. BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S VERY NECESSARY. SO IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT WE ALL NEED TO HAVE. UH, SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO NOW IS WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO UNVEIL THE BILLBOARD. SO IF WE CAN HAVE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE SPEAKERS, AND WE WILL START WITH THE ONE ON THE FURTHEST ON THE, ON THE RIGHT THERE. UH, AND IF YOU GOT, YOU GUYS CAN GO DOWN AND, UH, GET ON EACH SIDE OF THE BOARD AND WE'LL SORT OF COUNT THIS OFF . OKAY? WE'LL DO THIS ON THREE GUYS. ARE Y'ALL READY? EVERYBODY'S GOT IN, IN, UH, POSITION ONE, TWO, AND THREE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.