BROOKINGS With winters chill receding and springs warmth increasing each passing day, there also comes a new threat: Storms that, at their worst, can destroy lives and property.
Fortunately, there are ways Brookings-area residents can prepare, and one option is to take part in this years Severe Weather Awareness Training event on April 16 at 6:30 p.m.. It will be at the Brookings East Fire Station, 607 20th Ave., and is free and open to the public with no preregistration required.
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This program has been going on since I started working for Brookings County in 1999, and we rotate on an every-other-year schedule with Lake County to get a broader audience, Emergency Management Director Bob Hill told the Brookings Register in an interview. In addition to weather and thunderstorm basics, the 1.5- to two-hour course will also cover weather safety, storm structure and how to report severe weather to the National Weather Service.
His department is hosting the event, and its hoped its participants will leave more weather-savvy than they were before attending.
They (will be) shown how a thunderstorm forms, so that if (theyre) outside and observing a forming storm, they can make a decision as to whether or not to seek a safe place, Hill said.
In addition to severe weather fundamentals, the training will also include information on National Weather Service products, weather safety and how to communicate reports. People will also be able to sign up with the weather service in order to help the agency leading up to, during and after severe weather outbreaks.
The NWS has been known to call people that have attended the training after a storm to ask what damage they observed, Hill said. Every now and then they will also call if a trained spotter is in the path of a storm to see what conditions on the ground are at the present time.
One thing to keep in mind? People shouldnt expect the training to set them on the road to online stardom as storm chasers.
This training is not designed to turn individuals into storm chasers. Chasing severe storms is a dangerous job and best left to professionals, Hill advised.
For further information on the severe weather awareness training, call 605-692-5212.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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