Weather is no longer simply something EMS and public safety agencies can react to when it arrives. In this episode of EMS One-Stop, Rob Lawrence is joined by meteorologist and emergency management specialist Sunny Wescott to examine what she describes as “weather whiplash” — rapidly changing conditions, stronger storms, heavier rainfall, coastal erosion, flooding, drought and infrastructure failures occurring with increasing intensity and sometimes in places where responders have not traditionally expected them.
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Sunny explains why understanding global weather patterns matters locally, and why storms developing thousands of miles away can provide valuable early warning for emergency managers in the United States.
The discussion moves from the global weather picture to the West Coast, El Niño, coastal erosion, Lake Mead and the Colorado River, before looking east toward the remainder of hurricane season. More importantly, Sunny translates the science into practical advice for first responders:
- Study international disasters
- Anticipate public behavior
- Identify critical infrastructure before it fails
- Use recent after-action reviews to improve the next response
- Plan not only for the emergency itself, but for the much longer recovery period that follows
Along the way, there is also the extraordinary example of a flooded snake farm in China that released 900 king cobras into floodwaters — a reminder that disasters frequently create secondary hazards no emergency plan anticipated.
Key quotes
“None of these weather events are new, but they’re entering into areas where they don’t typically go or haven’t gone before.” — Sunny Wescott
“If you look out of your windows, you can see there’s this thing called weather going on.” — Rob Lawrence
“If we’re not paying attention to Russia, Asia, India, then we’re going to be surprised when these weather events get into the Pacific and approach our coastline.” — Sunny Wescott
“I’m a Brit. I’m professionally trained to talk and moan about the weather, so I might as well do it on One-Stop.” — Rob Lawrence
“The problem is we weren’t prepared for the intensity of the last decade, and that’s led us into a place of complacency, kicking the can down the road.” — Sunny Wescott
“If you just did your after-action review from the last weather system, you have a real opportunity to make those corrections and to get it right even as soon as next week.” — Rob Lawrence
About our guest
Sunny Wescott is a federal emergency response official chief meteorologist with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) specializing in national extreme weather hazards and climatological studies for impacts to public and private sector key resources; and deputy project manager for the National Hurricane Program (FEMA).
Episode timeline
00:31 — Rob introduces the episode and welcomes Sunny Wescott back to EMS One-Stop.
01:42 — Sunny’s background: from U.S. Air Force meteorology to critical infrastructure, homeland security, FEMA’s National Hurricane Program and geospatial intelligence.
03:26 — The global weather picture and why traditional weather patterns are becoming less reliable.
05:53 — Why U.S. emergency managers should pay attention to weather in Russia, Asia and Europe.
06:10 — The jet stream, wildfire smoke and the “carousel of weather” moving systems around the globe.
07:24 — How overseas weather events can offer advance warning of the intensity of systems later approaching North America.
09:29 — Sunny explains Kelvin waves, warmer coastal water, king tides and why California’s coastal flooding risk continues to increase.
11:25 — Emergency managers are being forced into a cycle of continually trying to catch up with increasingly damaging events.
13:03 — Sunny predicts continued worsening of coastal erosion and discusses wider infrastructure impacts — sinkholes, water mains and groundwater depletion: how underground infrastructure may become another increasingly important response issue.
15:00 — Why heavy rain does not necessarily solve the water crisis affecting Lake Mead and the Colorado River.
15:09 — Intense rainfall can fall too rapidly for soil, vegetation and drainage systems to absorb it effectively.
16:20 — Evaporation, human water use and warming water further complicate reservoir forecasts.
17:07 — The coming political and resource challenge: deciding who gets scarce Colorado River water.
18:41 — Rob and Sunny return and shift attention to the Atlantic and the remainder of hurricane season.
19:28 — Sunny explains Saharan dust, wildfire smoke and the environmental factors that influence tropical cyclone development.
20:22 — Late-season concern turns toward the Caribbean and Gulf.
21:44 — Sunny’s first recommendation: follow international disasters and learn how both responders and the public behaved.
22:12 — Preparing for public distrust, misinformation and hostility during emergencies.
22:45 — Using overseas infrastructure failures as scenario planning: bridges, roads, supply routes and rescue access.
23:07 — The 900 king cobras example and the importance of anticipating unexpected secondary hazards.
24:36 — A near-real-time look at the forecast for the following week. Sunny warns that a significant West Coast system may catch people off guard
because it lacks a dramatic label such as “hurricane” or “atmospheric river.”
25:14 — A developing system is expected to track down the West Coast, bringing waves of wind and precipitation.
26:03 — “Now’s your time to shine.” Agencies that have just completed after-action reviews have an immediate opportunity to make improvements.
26:20 — Rob reinforces the value of turning recent lessons learned into operational changes before the next event.
27:35 — Rob’s closing takeaway: first responders should think beyond immediate response and plan equally seriously for recovery.
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