LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Mar 1, 2010 3:42 PM

Even though winter continues to blast cold weather, ice and snow on Lexington and central Kentucky, spring storm season is just around the corner.The Division of Emergency Management wants to make sure you’re ready. The month of March is declared as Severe Storms Preparedness Month and citizens are urged to take time out to make sure that they’re prepared for what Mother Nature can dish out when warm weather comes in the spring.

“March, April and May present some of the most unpredictable weather conditions in the central Kentucky area,” said Pat Dugger, Director of the Division of Emergency Management.  “Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes can appear with little notice.  People need to be prepared and know where they can get severe weather information.”

The Division of Emergency Management website has an extensive collection of materials and links to other resources that describe severe weather preparedness and response, including tornado facts and myths and severe thunderstorm and lighting information 

The website address is www.lexingtonky.gov/dem.

The public awareness campaign will include banners at key locations on Lexington’s streets, information on portable electronic message boards throughout the city, public service announcements on Radio Lexington, 1620AM and displays at Lexington’s public libraries.

Events for severe storms preparedness month include:

• March 2 – There will be a statewide tornado drill at 10:07 am that will be broadcast over weather radios and other participating media partners.  There will be a public tornado drill at the Rosa Parks Elementary School, 1251 Beaumont Centre Lane. Any member of the media wanting to observe the drill should contact Lisa Deffendal with the Fayette County Public School’s Communication and Community Relations Office at 381-4101.
• March 4 – Community Emergency Response Team classes start.  Call Shelley Bendall at (859) 258-3784 for more information.
• March 10 – The National Weather Service will teach a weather spotter class at 7pm.  The class will be held at the American Red Cross facility at 1450 Newtown Pike.  The event is free and open to the public.  This event is cosponsored by DEM, the American Red Cross, and the Bluegrass Amateur Radio Society.

A severe weather quiz is available on the Division of Emergency Management website.  Successful participants will be eligible to win a weather radio.

Citizens can access information about the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government by calling LexCall, the city’s centralized service and information contact center.  Most telephones can connect to LexCall by simply dialing 3-1-1.  The regular number for LexCall is (859) 425-2255 and is answered Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Information about city programs and services is also available via the government website at www.lexingtonky.gov.  Citizens may also receive news and information from the city’s Twitter account – lexkygov.