Amy Freeze covers hope, empowerment at National Disaster Resilience Conference
Freeze represented FOX Weather on a panel titled “Leadership Voices - Media and Weather."
Amy Freeze on attending the National Disaster Resilience Conference
FOX Weather meteorologist and anchor Amy Freeze spoke about her experience as a panelist at the annual National Disaster Resilience Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida. Nov. 9, 2023.
FOX Weather Meteorologist and Anchor Amy Freeze spoke at the annual National Disaster Resilience Conference this week in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Hosted by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, or FLASH, the NDRC featured presentations, panels and other events to help create buildings and communities that are more resilient to hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters.
Freeze represented FOX Weather on a panel titled "Leadership Voices - Media and Weather," which included fellow panelists from the National Hurricane Center, the National Weather Service, Florida International University and other media outlets.
Freeze, in blue dress in center, with fellow panelists at NDRC 2023.
(Federal Alliance for Safe Homes / FOX Weather)
They covered an array of topics, such as lessons learned from Hurricane Ian in 2022 and the rapid intensification of Hurricane Otis this year.
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They also covered how professionals in the weather space could better message before, during and after storms.
"That's really important," Freeze said. "Obviously, what we forecast before a storm tells people what to do to get ready and what expectations to have. During the storm gives them critical information to understand what's going down and how to protect themselves and when it's over. Then, after the storm is really a critical part, we focus a lot on because you have people's attention right after a storm happened."
Freeze, in blue dress in center, with fellow panelists at NDRC 2023.
(Federal Alliance for Safe Homes / FOX Weather)
She noted that a challenge for leaders in media right after a storm is utilizing that time frame to capitalize on the messaging and to explain what really happened.
Another topic the panel covered was the role of artificial intelligence in the past and future of weather forecasting. Freeze said A.I. has been a part of forecasting since the 1970s, as meteorologists have used a form of A.I. known as coding or modeling to allow them to refine the forecast models.
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Going forward, she said A.I. will continue to be a part of how meteorologists refine forecasts, but it will also help us to understand the built world better. For example, wind damage to a home can be simulated by applying mathematics and engineering to a built world designed or reflected in A.I. programs.
People clear debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach, Florida on September 30, 2022.
(GIORGIO VIERA / AFP / Getty Images)
For Freeze, however, the technology, messaging and other information covered during the panel and the conference goes beyond the concrete and fuels the empowerment of the public during weather events.
"I really think, at the end of the day, this conference is about hope," Freeze said. "The reason we talk about resilience is because it creates hope in sometimes a situation that feels powerless. We can't control the weather, but we can control how we build our structures to withstand weather."