Deadly tornados: One year later – Proper plan key to avoiding harm, Phifer says
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?You?ve got time,? said Warren County Emergency Management director Percy Phifer regarding warnings issued before severe weather ever strikes. ?There?s television, Internet, warning sirens in the city and radio which broadcasts warnings. The problem is many people don?t take these warnings seriously.?
Tornado victims Barbara Alberson, 53, and a man she was caring for, Ollie Parsley, 81, were killed when their trailer was blown off its moorings and smashed by a direct hit of a F1 twister on Foster Road in the Green Hill community. People who had talked to Alberson just before the storm were told she planned to ?ride out? the bad weather.
A third victim, Sherry Bruce, 48, also riding out the storm in a trailer, was killed when a second twister hit the county in the Morrison area. Bruce?s home on Bonner Road was one of the few to receive significant damage in the Morrison area.
?What we learned from April 7 of last year is the best plan is to get out of its path if you have time,? Phifer said, noting over 50 homes suffered damage in last year?s storms. ?While trailers are especially susceptible, the winds from a tornado also pose a threat to more sturdy structures seeing we had a brick home in the Green Hill area blown away. The best thing a person can do is have a plan, not only of where to go to seek shelter but also how to contact friends and family after a disaster.?
Phifer said he fears that even after such a tragedy, people don?t take enough precautions.
?The tornado on Bonner Road did not show as a rotation on the weather service radar but there was a severe thunderstorm warning in the area,? Phifer said, noting the Green Hill storm did show a rotation which was broadcast on live TV. ?This shows that we need to take severe thunderstorm warnings seriously because that?s where tornados are formed. It seems that people tend to forget after time passes from an event like April 7.?
As for preparedness, Phifer said it is impossible for emergency services to be completely ready for a disaster the magnitude of that of April 7. However, Phifer said planning starts behind the scenes on many days when severe weather threatens. Specifically, Phifer said the local EMA confers with the weather service and other emergency agencies on days where severe storms are forecast.
?We?re pretty fortunate where we sit because a lot of tornados miss us,? Phifer said. ?But we still need to be ready if the worst happens like it did on April 7 of last year.?
Phifer noted a weather spotters class will be held at the early voting room of the county government building on Locust Street at 6 p.m. this Monday. The class will teach citizens how to spot and report severe weather. Phifer said the class is free and there will even be door prizes.