1.6M Houstonians Are Not Ready for Hurricane Season

When Hurricane Beryl was bearing down on Houston, the wife of the city's top emergency manager decided — for the first time in years — to stay home. Beryl passed directly over their house. Brian Mason, Director of the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management, tells that story on camera, and uses it to explain why he gets his own family out of Houston 72 hours before any storm — a full day and a half before official evacuation orders typically come down.Mason brings 26 years of emergency work to this conversation, from F5 tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma to running the Emergency Operations Center for 2.4 million Houstonians. He walks us  through OEM's updated household guidance — the city has officially moved its recommended supply kit from 3 days to 7 days — and lays out the four pillars Houstonians should know: have a plan, have a kit, get connected to your neighbors, and use trusted sources like the National Weather Service and Houston OEM. He shares the specifics of his own family's contingency plan, including a designated meetup point at a gas station in Brenham on Highway 290 if cell service goes down. And he names the statistic that keeps him up at night: a 2025 Kinder Institute study found only one-third of Houstonians are prepared for a storm. With 2.4 million residents, that's roughly 1.6 million people who aren't ready. Mason also corrects a dangerous public misconception — 80 to 85 percent of storms that hit Houston spin up in the Bay of Campeche or Gulf of Mexico and reach landfall within 72 hours, not the five-day window most residents assume they'll get.Thanks for listening!New episodes from inside Houston City Hall, featuring candid conversations about the issues, decisions, and leadership shaping the future of Houston.Connect with Mayor John Whitmire and the Mayor’s Office:Instagram: @houstonmayorX: @HouMayorWebsite: https://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/Follow the show for more conversations from inside the Mayor’s Office.