Preparing To Stay Safe During Storm Season

Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson checks a weather radio at the Eddyville-Blakesburg High School Tuesday morning

Eddyville, Iowa – Working to keep the people of Mahaska County safe is a full time job. Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson spent Tuesday making his bi-annual trip around Mahaska County making sure that weather radios, in strategic places, were working correctly and had fresh batteries.

On Wednesday, the state wide test of the watch and warning system will play out starting at 10:00 am. For more information, the schedule is listed at the end of this article.

“Weather radio batteries are just as important as your smoke detector or carbon monoxide detectors. If the batteries aren’t functioning properly, in the event of a power outage, you wouldn’t get the alerts.” Robinson said of the importance of changing out the batteries. Robinson cited that something as simple as lightning putting out the power would leave you vulnerable to an oncoming storm.

“Also if you don’t change batteries on a regular basis, it can actually ruin the weather radio,” Robinson explained after having run across a set of corroded batteries in a radio he had serviced earlier. That happened in 6 short months; since his last round of visits.

Robinson visits every school and city hall on his route. It’s not a requirement for the counties ‘StormReady’ designation, it only states that they should have a radio. “We do it because we have hundreds of children in our schools every day. Our elementary in Oskaloosa is one of the largest in the state. By making sure these radios are in place and the batteries are good and that they’re programmed properly, it allows me as Emergency Management to know that at least that tool is there for the schools to use and that they have it ready to go.”

Robinson wanted to remind people that the storm sirens are an outdoor alerting system. He says that, “just because you live in town and you can hear the sirens doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a weather radio. Weather radio gives you that notification.” Robinson pointed out that the radio will be able to give you a more clear idea as to why the sirens have been activated.

Nixle is “another very important tool,” Robinson said. With a quick text message MCEMA to 888777 on your cell phone. With that, you will be alerted by text message to weather alerts that impact only Mahaska County. “I encourage everyone to sign up for it,” Robinson said about the system that nearly 5000 Mahaska County residents already utilize.

Reviewing tornado plans for schools is also a responsibility Robinson takes seriously. He looks for ways to keep students most protected in the event of a violent storm, but also in documented places that are known to potential rescuers. “We do a couple a year where we go and evaluate how their plan is and see if there is some tweaking that can be done to it.”

Robinson encourages residents to visit http://mahaskaready.com/ to be better prepared in case of an emergency. There you will find information on supplies to have on hand. “You see it every year, whether it’s a blizzard or severe weather, the National Weather Service or the local media puts out this kind of storm warning… people flock to the grocery stores and all the breads gone or all the milks gone. People need to have supplies on hand before they get that notification so when that storm just shows up, they are prepared for it.”

Robinson reminds people to also think about their pets by having extra animal food on hand “so they’re not suffering or they’re eating food that’s intended for your family.”

This map illustrates what the size of the Joplin Missouri damage path would have been had it hit Oskaloosa

The Parkersburg tornado and the recent Joplin tornado are example of an extreme tornado event. After returning, firefighters and Robinson put together a map that highlighted what the Joplin tornado damage path would have been like if it had struck Oskaloosa. They centered the path down A Avenue in Oskaloosa, “It actually spread clear out to William Penn and right down past Maple Ridge south of town.

Robinson says that is the type of event they have to plan for, even though most tornados are smaller in size; like the one that impacted New Sharon last year. “We got very lucky. If that had been just a few hundred yards further to the north, it would have hit a trailer park. It would have knocked trailers off their foundations.”

Wednesday is the planned state-wide drill. It is planned to proceed as follows:

10:00 am: Tornado Watch (drill) given over NOAA Weather Radio. PA Announcement made to the entire Capitol Complex. NO SHELTERING REQUIRED.

10:15 am: Tornado Warning (drill) given over NOAA Weather Radio. PA Announcement made to the entire Capitol Complex. EVERYONE WILL PROCEED TO DESIGNATED SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY.

10:30 am: All Clear (drill) given over NOAA Weather Radio. PA Announcement made to the entire Capitol Complex. EVERYONE RETURN TO WORK STATIONS.

***IF THERE IS ACTUAL SEVERE WEATHER APRIL 4, 2012, THE DRILL WILL BE POSTPONED TO APRIL 5, 2012 AT 10 AM.***