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Monsoon: Phoenix emergency management director details storm response plans

By
FOX 10 Phoenix
Phoenix
Published June 9, 2026 3:11 PM MST
Published June 9, 2026 3:11 PM MST

The Brief

    • Monsoon season is approaching, and the Phoenix Fire Department is preparing for a busy summer.
    • City departments and external partners are collaborating to ensure emergency plans and resources are up-to-date.
    • APS is implementing new technology like robots and drones to inspect infrastructure during severe weather when conditions are unsafe for personnel.

PHOENIX - Monsoon season is almost here, and the Phoenix Fire Department is getting ready for a busy summer. 

"We come together to train year-round, but come together to make sure our plans and processes are up-to-date," said Kim Gathers, Director of the City of Phoenix Office of Emergency Management. "We know what resources our external partners have, as well as all of us city departments. We also ensure that exercising together year-round. This is the culmination of saying ‘Are we ready for monsoon season?’"

Big picture view:

Organizations like the Department of Forestry, the Office for Emergency Management and APS are showing off their resources.

"This entire event, you see our resources and capabilities to respond to the monsoon," Gathers said. "So, we have our makeshift shelter. In the event of an emergency, we can go out and set up a shelter. You see multi-agency, multi-department collaboration. We train year-round. All of our partners and emergency management are responsible for coordinating that type of activity."

Dig deeper:

APS is also utilizing new technology during severe weather.

"The robots for us is the ability where we might not want to send a person. We can now send a robot. A lot of our infrastructure are in areas where maybe it’s no longer safe, also slightly not accessible, and the robots, drones help us get cameras. High-definition cameras there help us get a line of sight," a representative from APS said.

What you can do:

Their main goal is keeping the community safe.

"Our community outreach is extremely important, because we want to make sure our residents and communities can be able to sustain themselves in a power outage, make sure they have essential items in a to-go kit, emergency items like flashlights, batteries, prescriptions, perishable foods, water, and you have those things ahead of time," Gathers said.

The Source: Information for this article was gathered by FOX 10's Irene Snyder.

PhoenixNews