By Jennifer Zartman Romano
If threatening weather was heading our way, would you be prepared? What would you do to keep your family safe?
The Whitley County Emergency Management and the Kosciusko County Emergency Management agencies, in cooperation with the National Weather Service, are promoting three upcoming events to help local residents not only be able to spot severe weather conditions, but to know how to react when weather turns bad.
On Wednesday, March 19, they will present Storm Spotter training in North Webster at the North Webster Fire Station, 202 North Main Street, at 7 p.m.
Then, on Thursday, March 20, two Storm Spotter sessions will be offered at the Peabody Public Library in Columbia City. One class begins at 9 a.m. and another begins at 7 p.m.
The 90-minute classes are free, and according to Cathy Broxon-Ball, director of the Whitley County Emergency Management Agency, everyone can learn a thing or two from these sessions.
“We kind of encourage Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to become involved in these (events),” Broxon-Ball said. You do not need to have any meteorological training to participate – just an interest in better understanding the weather.
The course will be taught by a trained National Weather Service meteorologist, explaining how local residents can evaluate different weather conditions and how to quickly report that information to the National Weather Service – informing their community and, hopefully, helping to save lives in the event of serious weather situations.
There is no need to RSVP for these training sessions, however, class participants are asked to arrive a little early.
For a helpful link to local weather conditions, visit www.weather.gov/iwx