Meet the new master of disaster in Walton County

The new point man at the Emergency Operations Center, Capt. Joe Preston, said coming in during the middle of a hurricane season and a waning oil crisis is “a little rough.”

The “biggest challenge” is “getting up to speed,” the new director said.

Working in emergency situations is nothing new to Preston. As a deputy, he participated in and supervised response and mass casualty exercises with Eglin Air Force Base and other sate and federal agencies.

It is a “learning curve” although “I am not totally on my own, thankfully,” Preston said of the experienced crew he is working with.

Preston ascended to the head position in the busiest month of the hurricane season after Capt. Barker’s forced resignation last month. Barker stepped down after reports of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate.

In addition to his nine years at the Sheriff’s Office, Preston teaches prospective recruits at Northwest Florida State College and has served in supervisory positions in the corporate world.

Juggling the hazards of the oil spill with the threats of potential hurricanes currently tops the watch list for Emergency Operations Center.

“There are plans for consistency in each county, from that perspective we are not reinventing the wheel,” Preston said.

As far as the oil spill goes, that is the “big unknown. It has not just disappeared… ,” Preston said.

“It is a concern,” he said. We are “monitoring the size, triggers and timelines… the oil is a wild card.”

The Coastal Dune Lakes are still dammed up, booms are in place even though “with two knots they become useless.” He said the Department of Health is also continuing to take water samples, Preston said.

The captain, wife Kara, and his five children relocated to the Gulf Coast 10 years ago from Kansas City to be near family.

“I’m a Hoosier by nature, but we love it here,” Preston said.