Wednesday, May 28, 2003
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Wednesday, May 28, 2003 |
Severe weather a big threat to Fayette; county urges citizens to plan aheadBy JOHN
MUNFORD
Fayette County's greatest risk for large-scale damage is severe weather, according to Capt. Pete Nelms, the county's emergency management coordinator. And since severe weather can strike suddenly, Nelms recommends Fayette residents plan their response at home, particularly by educating children to meet in a certain room at the lowest level and nearest the center of the house. Weather radios are also very handy to have, and they can be programmed to receive alerts just for Fayette County, Nelms added. He also recommends watching local TV stations, which can be inaccurate at times but generally does a solid job of tracking major storms, Nelms said. While the county has a severe weather alarm system with several sirens, the system doesn't cover the entire county. "We chose our most vulnerable areas," which includes 2,200 homes in Fayette's manufactured home communities, Nelms said. That alone covers 6,500 residents, giving them an audible alert to seek shelter in case a rough storm becomes imminent, Nelms said. Each siren is $35,000 and can broadcast voice messages and warning tones. Fayette's cities can also add sirens to the same system, which is one of the reasons county emergency planners chose the current alarm system, Nelms said. "It's a great way of warning certain areas of the community," Nelms said. Now that all the county's manufactured home communities are covered by the alarm system, the county will add them to large population centers, Nelms said. The latest siren location added is near the Fayette Pavilion, designed to give shoppers a heads-up if severe weather is on its way. Caution is used when deciding to activate the alarm system to minimize the possibility of a false alarm, Nelms added. All of the county's public buildings have at least one NOAA weather radio, including every public school and most day care centers, Nelms said. The county was able to provide that service through a recent grant, which was also able to equip some churches with the radios. County officials continue to evaluate their response plan to severe weather and its aftermath, Nelms said. Last year, Fayette was one of the first counties to be certified by the National Weather Service as a "StormReady" community. The StormReady program evaluates a county's storm warning system, which includes NWS, local emergency management officials and the public. "There is no question that Fayette County is one of the leaders in the state in terms of severe weather preparedness," said Lans Rothfusz, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City. With a record amount of tornados this spring in the United States, several communities were hit that have implemented StormReady programs, Rothfusz said. None of the StormReady communities recorded any fatalities or major injuries, he added. The program "certainly reduces the chance for fatalities and significant injury in that area," Rothfusz said. "But StormReady does not mean storm proof."
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