GREENVILLE – The Darke County Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the National Weather Service of Wilmington hosted its annual severe weather spotter training Tuesday evening at the Greenville Township Emergency Services Building.
With nearly 50 people in attendance, from Darke and surrounding counties, meteorologist Kevin Kacan of the National Weather Service instructed first responders, amateur radio operators and weather enthusiasts alike on the methods and safety of severe weather spotting and reporting. Those in attendance were instructed on the types of severe weather including thunderstorms, straight-line winds, hail events, flooding and tornadoes among all others.
With personal safety being of No. 1 importance, students were reminded of the value of their own lives during these times. Phrases such as “when thunder roars go indoors” and “turn around don’t drown” were emphasized.
“We are limited with our tools, and we know that they are not perfect so there will be times when we are not be able to see everything that is going on at the ground and surface levels. Because of this, we rely on the real time reports from our spotters and use those reports for our warnings. We do base our decisions on those reports and the valuable information they provide us at the National Weather Service,” Kacan said. “We definitely appreciate our spotters and those who volunteer their time to come out and listen to these talks, especially on nicer days like these, when they could be outside doing other things and enjoying this nice weather.”
“We too are very appreciative of all the time everyone has given and the work they do. I think the turn out was amazing” added Josh Haney, emergency management specialist for the Darke County office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “We used all the available media outlets we could to advertise this event. Social media, email and we even reached out to the local newspapers. We couldn’t be happier with tonight’s outcome.”
