By Jill Pease
We can all rest a little easier knowing that Brady Nettina and his colleagues in University of Florida emergency management are prepared for any emergency that may befall the campus and its large network of affiliates around the state.
Unlike the protagonists in some of our favorite action-packed disaster films, you won’t see Nettina chasing tornadoes in a pickup truck or sifting through wreckage, but you can find him riding out storms and major events in a round-the-clock emergency operations center, monitoring and responding to emergencies in real time to keep the campus community safe and functioning.
“This university has statewide impact,” Nettina said. “We have facilities in every county. We do an incredible amount of research that impacts the state, the nation and the world. And we also have a community living on campus that needs critical services. Getting to problem solve with a unique community and being able to work with experts in their fields across campus to solve those problems is a really rewarding experience.”
Nettina, the assistant director of UF’s Department of Emergency Management, brings emergency management expertise in higher education, county and public school settings to his role. As a master’s student in One Health at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, he also views his work through the lens of the intersection of human, animal and environmental health.
“The One Health concentration with its holistic approach to public health and the interconnectedness of people, animals and the environment related to health ties in really well with emergency management,” Nettina said. “In emergency management, we have something called the whole community approach where we’re looking at not just what emergency management officials or other government agencies think, but including the entire community in preparedness and response efforts.”
While emergency management is often associated with bad weather — the 2024-2025 UF academic year was especially busy with three closures for hurricanes and one closure for winter weather, the university’s first — a university of this size and complexity can be faced with multiple types of emergencies. For example, Nettina and his colleagues have led three-day exercises with a hundred participants to prepare for incidents on football game days, when tens of thousands of people swarm campus.
Naturally, in the midst of summer, Floridians are eyeing the Atlantic and the Gulf for potential storms. Now is the time to prepare for hurricanes, Nettina said, not when a storm is two days from landfall.
“If we activate the UF emergency operations center, I know I’ll be here,” Nettina said. “That might be for the long haul or it could just be a short amount of time, depending on the size of the incident. Knowing that I have made a plan for myself, my family, my pets and making sure my home is buttoned up allows me to come in and do my job. I think that need for personal preparedness applies to everyone.”
Nettina offers these tips for hurricane readiness:
Have a plan in place.
Alachua County does not have evacuation zones, but for people who live in low-lying or flood prone areas or manufactured housing, think about where you would go if you need to leave, Nettina said. If you plan to stay with friends or family, have those conversations ahead of time. Do you have pets? Some shelters, including the campus shelter, will not accept pets so find out which shelters in your area do.
Build a kit.
“Generally, we say have enough in your kit for three days,” Nettina said. That could include food, water, extra batteries, medications, personal hygiene items, portable phone charger and pet supplies.
“Having all of this set at the beginning of hurricane season takes the stress level down so you’re not fighting crowds to get water and food,” Nettina said.
To keep kit costs down, buy foods that are shelf stable and that you would be willing to eat after hurricane season ends. Not crazy about canned beans? Don’t feel obligated to buy a hundred cans of them.
Stay informed.
Follow updates from the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center to get the latest on storm news. Also, be sure to regularly check the university’s emergency updates website.
“When the time comes to start communicating about an incoming storm, you can go to the UF emergency updates website to get all sorts of information, including storm updates and information on what the campus is doing as we work with our local partners,” Nettina said.