Montrose County has hired a new emergency manager with experience overseeing hurricane response and disaster recovery efforts in Florida.
Kristy Mathews was recently hired as the county’s emergency manager, according to a county news release. Mathews brings more than a decade of experience in emergency management, disaster response, recovery coordination and public preparedness initiatives.
Most recently, Mathews served as emergency management manager for the City of Fort Myers, where she founded and led the city’s Emergency Management Division. In that role, she coordinated response and recovery operations for major hurricanes, including Hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton.
According to the release, Mathews managed multi-agency emergency operations, oversaw federal disaster recovery funding and worked on community preparedness and resilience efforts throughout the city.
Before joining the City of Fort Myers, Mathews worked in leadership roles with the Florida Department of Health. During that time, she coordinated public health emergency operations during the COVID-19 outbreak, managed preparedness grants and supported statewide hurricane response and emergency communications programs.
The county said Mathews has also managed more than $80 million in post-disaster FEMA projects and has presented nationally on emergency management topics.
Mathews replaces former emergency manager Scott Hawkins, who announced last year that he would leave the county after six years to pursue another opportunity.
During his tenure, Hawkins revised the county’s emergency operations plans, implemented evacuation and early warning software, and helped establish a drone program for the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office that included thermal-imaging capabilities for search and rescue, wildfire detection and enforcement operations.
Hawkins also played a key role in the county’s response to major wildfire incidents, including the South Rim Fire at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park last summer. In 2022, he was recognized as Western Region Emergency Manager of the Year for his work during the Simms Mesa Fire response.
County officials said they expect Mathews to continue supporting emergency preparedness, response, recovery and resilience efforts across Montrose County.
More information about Montrose County Emergency Management and emergency alerts is available through the county’s emergency management webpage and Facebook page.
