Jack Colley Quotations

With these winds of 25, 30, 40 miles per hour, when a simple grassfire occurs, that fire will move at that speed and that speed will increase the intensity of a very small fire, and it will create just a firestorm.

We're looking not just at a coastal event, but a second (or) third event that will occur over the next few days. So it will be an enormous effort on our part.

We're looking at trains as a primary way to move large means of people.

We're preparing for operations through the end of April; that's not good news.

Hurricanes are the greatest single natural catastrophic threat to this state by far.

Our goal is to put an aircraft to respond anywhere in the impact area within 20 minutes. Either a rotary wing or fixed wing aircraft. We're set. We're positioned.

There is little or no chance of rain for the next several days.

We know that no one has lost his life, which is good news -- the objective today is immediate response. That's medical assessment, food, water, ice and communications -- making contact with local officials and reestablishing continuity of government.

We've got to be quicker, faster and smarter!

We've just sent three Blackhawk helicopters and have dozers en route.

Fifteen counties were impacted, we're still in the response mode, and our objective now is to ensure the health and safety of our citizens.

That's a critical area for us because of the potential to have large forest fires, much like you'd see on the West Coast.

That means when there's water on the road, turn around, don't drown. Drivers often underestimate the power of flood water. Saving your life is as simple as choosing an alternate route.

The greatest ally you have in this effort is prevention, and that's by the public.