MIAMI VALLEY — The Miami Valley is expected to see two rounds of potential severe weather in the next 24 hours.
News Center 7’s John Bedell talked with AES Ohio about what they will be doing to keep the power on, and to local emergency management offices about what they will be doing to keep people safe.
Meteorologists consistently monitor weather conditions and forecast models, and it takes a lot of time.
EMA offices will also be tracking the conditions for possible changes, and they want to make sure people have more than one way to get severe weather watches and warnings.
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In Mercer County, the EMA office told News Center 7 the work of cleaning up storm damage from last Friday’s severe weather is mostly done.
Cassidy Freeman, Emergency Management Specialist with Mercer County EMA, said, “There were a couple branches here and there on the sides of the roads, but most of everything’s cleaned up.” She continued, “A couple of the roofs still have some tarps over.”
Now, county EMA offices around the region are preparing for another round of possible severe storms on Wednesday.
Mindy Saylor, Darke County EMA Director, said, “Things can change. It already changed today from what it was yesterday. So, hopefully, it continues to push north, and we won’t be in quite the severe category that it looks like we might be in right now.”
Saylor told News Center 7 her work involves paying close attention to the forecast. Then, sharing that information with partner agencies like local governments and first responders.
“Just to make sure everyone is kind of extra aware of what’s going on and, you know, they’re ready just in case they need to be, you know, respond to any damage, activate warning sirens or anything like that, “ Saylor said.
Both Darke and Mercer County EMAs said it’s about the importance of getting severe weather alerts. Those can include signing up for countywide emergency alert systems in your community on your cell phone and other technology.
“We’re highly recommending the NOAA weather radios because those you hear indoors, they’re really loud,” Freeman said.
However, if you get severe weather alerts, both agencies stressed the importance of having more than one option in place.
“Especially given that these storms look like they may be coming later in the evening, maybe even after everyone has, you know, potentially went to bed,” Saylor said.
If you live in Darke County, you can sign up for the Countywide Emergency Alert on the EMA website; in Mercer County, you can do so from the Sheriff’s Office website homepage.
AES Ohio said with the forecast, crews are reviewing staffing, response plans and equipment, and putting crews in place so they can respond to any outages quickly and safely.
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