News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Severe Weather Awareness Week offers residents the chance to stock up on a few necessary supplies and think about how to prepare during the leadup to a severe weather event.
This week marks the annul communication event in Tennessee. White County Emergency Manager Matt McBride said he and other local directors met with officials from the National Weather Service earlier this month. Meteorologists said it was too early to determine what kind of storm season it might be this spring. But McBride said it just takes one storm to flare up.
“I guess one of our biggest things that we ask people to do is probably talk to their children as far as make sure that if there is a storm damage or if there is severe weather, that they have a safe place in the children and everybody in the household is on the same page of where to go and where to meet in case there is an emergency,” McBride said.
McBride said make sure everyone in the house know where the safest place is during a storm, using the lowest, most internal room. McBride said use this week to check the batteries in your weather radio. Make sure it’s plugged up and programmed to the local NOAA outlet.
When a storm is forecast, McBride said parking your vehicles out of harm’s way is a simple way to save money and give yourself an exit if needed.
“We try to get people to make sure that maybe if there’s a lot of tree or a lot of heavy wooded area to try to park their vehicles away from those, in case you end up getting debris or down trees in the area, maybe they won’t be on their vehicles,” McBride said. “If they do have structure damage and they need to evacuate after the storm has come through, then they will have a vehicle to get out.”
McBride said most of us hear the term “stay in your safe place” during storms, but too often people do not take shelter. He said the recent January winter weather event showed people listening.
“For the most part, we did a really good job during our winter weather and during our winter storm,” McBride said. “If we could get people to continue that trend when we get into the springtime, into severe weather, that would be great. The more people that we have off the road and in secure places is a lot better for us. As far as getting roadways cleared and stuff.”
The National Weather Service and Tennessee Emergency Management will share information on different areas of severe weather this week, including flooding and flash flooding, lightning, tornado safety, and how to receive weather warnings.
With the March tornado of 2020 still alive in people’s memories, McBride said he thinks the awareness is high of the dangers of all types of severe weather from flooding to straight line winds to tornadoes.
“We just ask people to start preparing early,” McBride said. “I would rather be prepared and it end up not being severe or it get downscaled versus end up needing something. So we ask that you prepare two, three, maybe even four days in advance.”
