Born in London, England, the Sunshine State has become home for Captain Julie Stevens now, and flying Chopper 5 is a thrill every time she jumps into the Pilot seat.

Once a Hurricane Watch/Warning has been issued, Chopper 5 incorporates Storm preparations into its morning Traffic watch and during all our broadcasts. Monitoring the lines at Supply stores, gas stations, Shelters etc.

If an evacuation is ordered within our viewing area, Chopper 5 monitors the roadways and updates viewers on the traffic volumes on and around the Egress routes. Captain Julie's role is to obtain the latest traffic information to assist viewers who are ordered or planning to evacuate, such as volume on those roads, whether the Tolls are lifted and of course accidents that may obstruct Evacuation routes.

Captain Julie may evacuate Chopper 5 to a safe location away from the storm depending on the severity, but strives to be first in the Air to bring you live pictures and to those listening on radio, a narrative on the impact of the Storm.

We understand how frightening and isolated people become during a storm. It is also very dangerous to venture out directly after a storm and Captain Julie once in the Air starts a damage and flood assessment to inform neighborhoods that might be under water or dwellings with serious structural damage and possible injuries to residents.

Julie is in communication with Emergency personal and Police Helicopters while flying and they all share information to assist local authorities to move resources into the hardest hit areas quickly. After Wilma, Chopper 5 was the first Chopper to fly out to the Western communities around Lake Okeechobee and provide live pictures that State Officials can see to determine a response. As we saw after Wilma, lines at gas stations were a huge problem that impacted the lives and patience of almost all our viewers.

Chopper 5 was able to cover large areas of our community rapidly and pass on to our viewers locations of gas stations that were serving gas and those that had the least wait times. Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992 as a Category 5. The residents new how bad it was, the State really had no idea how severe and extensive the damage was until the News Choppers started flying the next day.

The ability to cover large areas rapidly free of road blocks, powerlines and storm debris makes Police, Rescue and news Choppers a vital resource after a Hurricane and that's why Chopper 5 is an integral part of the news team at Channel 5 striving to give you the best Hurricane Coverage You Can Count On.