Towns County citizens, first responders trained as NWS storm spotters

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SKYWARN spotter

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The National Weather Service (NWS), in cooperation with Towns County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), held a SKYWARN storm spotter class Oct. 18 at the Towns County Emergency Operations Center. Towns County citizens, along with first responders from Hiawassee Police Department, Towns County Fire and Rescue, and Towns County Emergency Medical Services, attended the severe weather seminar. The course was conducted by Peachtree City NWS meteorologist Dave Nadler.

An instructional SKYWARN slide shown during the presentation.

The SKYWARN class was designed to prepare participants to identify and report severe weather events, alerting the NWS of meteorological ground conditions and resulting damage to the area. Attendees were supplied with information on how to determine and monitor the structure of approaching storms, and what to report to the NWS in the event of severe weather. Safety instructions were included in the course.

Towns County became a StormReady community approximately 12 years ago, and re-certification is required by the NWS every four years.

Towns County EMA urged the community to sign-up for the CodeRED Weather Warning system, a computer-operated program that alerts residents of foul weather-related conditions. CodeRED Weather Warning is a unique service that automatically notifies citizens in the path of severe weather, moments after a warning has been issued by the NWS. CodeRED alerts are available at no cost.

Luke Dockery

Luke Dockery, a local weather enthusiast who completed the SKYWARN training.

The service delivers notifications to landlines and cell phones, emails, texts, social media, and/or mobile alerts. Residents and visitors will receive enhanced public safety alerts no matter where they are located via the CodeRED Mobile Alert app – a free public safety app for both Android and iPhone users. The CodeRED Mobile Alert app delivers community and emergency alerts to individuals targeted within an impacted geographical area so that citizens receive timely notifications when traveling away from home.

Click here to sign-up for CodeRED alerts

 

Feature Image: NWS meteorologist Dave Nadler leading the SKYWARN class.

 

 

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