PREPARE NOW: Emergency officials across Alabama on preparations ahead of expected tornado outbreak
Updated: 12:40 AM CDT Mar 15, 2025
Uh, so we just had *** meeting of all of our leaders, uh, of our 40 leaders throughout the city of gas in our departments, and we have everything in operation first to take care of ourselves and then take care of, of, of everyone else. Uh, so I'm gonna ask them to turn it over to our police chief, and we're gonna go down the line and then I'll come back and finish with our plan and then I'll take questions, OK, police chief, uh, Lamar Jaggers. Hi. We're gonna have extra staffing tomorrow it's gonna be flexible depending on what the weather is doing at the time. We might be coming early. We might be staying staying late. We're also gonna have other people on standby and we're gonna handle the approach by what's going on at the time. And if anybody has any problems, if it's an emergency call 911. If it's not an emergency, you can call the non-emergency numbers for the Gadston Police Department, and they're all on Gadsden Police Department's Facebook page with *** list of four different numbers with some other tips about what to do. Thank you. This is Derek Mommer with Gas Netawall County EMA. Good afternoon. Thank you, Mayor. My name is Derek Mamer. I'm the director here at Gas Nettawa County EMA. Uh, the EMA has been preparing for this all week. We've decided, uh, beginning tonight, should we go under *** tornado watch, we will staff the EMA EOC emergency operations center. Beginning tomorrow we will be fully staffed, uh, for our emergency operations center, uh, with staff, full-time staff and volunteers. We encourage the public to visit our social media page. Uh, and get our up to date information from there. You can also visit shelter Etawah.com. That'll have *** list of all of our shelters. If you click on the shelter, it will indicate whether that shelter is open or closed. Should Etawah County go under *** tornado watch, we will instruct all of our shelter managers to, uh, go and open all of our shelters, so we are ready and. Just getting ready to. Whether the storm and and. Hope for the best. I'm Vance Brown. I'm the fire chief here in Gasden. Uh, every day we have 35 line personnel, uh, that will be the same tomorrow. Uh, we, in addition to that for preparation, we've called in our special operations team, uh, which is proficient in, uh, rope, confined space, structural collapse. Uh, it's 8 highly trained guys are the best at what they do, so they will be here as well. Uh, we will have 110 guys that we can call in. Uh, in, in the event that this does happen, they will be on call ready, so that's the other two shifts that will be off the next two days, but they will be on call to come in. So, uh, we are prepared, uh, just to reiterate what, uh, Derek said, um. Be ready. Shelter in place if need be, uh, if it is non-emergent, uh, call the non-emergent line, do not tie up the emergent line and, uh, if it is life threatening, uh, then that will be prioritized and we will, we will respond to those first. So I'll be ready, God willing, this doesn't happen and, uh, thank you. All right, so some of the things we've implemented, uh, we've asked all vehicles to be taken home by all employees, city vehicles and gassed up and fueled up. We've asked public works to to call all staff in, uh, to be on standby to stay at the public works facility to hopefully we don't have to use them, but if we do, we anticipate, uh, having to use them, they'll be on standby ready to go, and they'll be out in certain geographical areas. We've also called called in freezer trucks in case people have damage, uh, in the past, uh, as of last year, we had to use freezer trucks for people because the power company couldn't get to people in time, uh, and we have, uh, *** freezer truck available for their, for their frozen goods and their refrigerated products. Uh, we've also been in contact with Alabama Power, uh, Terry Smiley is our regional director, Spencer Williams is our local guy. And they have over 4000 extra personnel coming into the state of Alabama. Some are located in our geographical area, uh, so we, we have *** direct contact with them. As you heard Derek say earlier, the EOC will be in fully operation tonight and for sure tomorrow. Uh, we've also just met with all of what we call our non-essential employees, uh, since the governor has declared *** state of emergency. uh, what we'll be doing is activating our non-essential employees to be to come in tomorrow afternoon if necessary. And then they'll be filtering down in their, uh, phone trees, what we call it, and they'll be coming in to assist the city of gas and residents and also to help public works, police and fire and answer phones, do whatever is necessary to take place. So just to let the public know we're prepared, uh, we hope we don't have to utilize our services, uh, but if, if it doesn't hit gas and hits the surrounding community, we will take care of those also and also we'll assist in other counties if they need our assistance also. Uh, God has gifted us with, uh, some good public works equipment and, and fantastic employees. And, uh, so we have all the necessary equipment ready to implement in case we see *** disaster. So I'll take questions if you have them now. Yes ma'am. When was the last time that you guys can remember maybe prepping like this? So we, I'm in the military and I prep like this all the time, been in for 34 years and so when I came into office, uh, unfortunately, uh, we got dumped waterboarded, uh, right out of the gate with 3 storms in that summer and I learned *** lot. They taught me *** lot, uh, on how we do things in city government. So it's *** little bit just like the military, uh, and we have fine tuned it and that's what we met earlier, 30 minutes earlier. Uh, so I would say it was, uh, 12 to 15 months ago when we had those 3 storms back to back to back, and we did an excellent job. Now it took us *** while to clean up in certain areas we're, you know, we're unique, gas is unique. We're divided by *** river, uh, so sometimes that hurts our fire and police personnel. That's when we have precincts on both sides of the river, uh, but also we have Knockilla Mountain. Uh, so sometimes *** lot of the storm damage and wind damage, it affects the knolua side worse than it affects the other because it comes across the valley up the hill and it takes out *** lot of the higher trees and the higher elevation in that area. So we're gonna staff *** section up there, uh, to begin with. So we're excited about that. Mayor, as you said, this is expected to be catastrophic even though people I'm sure are preparing right now, hoping for the best. *** lot of people are nervous right now. What do you have to say to reassure people during this point? Yeah, so, uh, first of all, uh, pray. You know, well, we're all, uh, I'm *** man of faith and I believe if you pray, God hears your prayers. Second of all, as long as you prepare and you train for *** disaster, uh, and you implement it, it just comes natural and we have done that. Uh, our police, our fire EMA, we have had, uh, fire drills per se as you were in the elementary school. Uh, we, we've also had drills where we had ***, we pretended we had an F4 tornado and we went through our process and our steps of, of what it would take. Uh, but I'll let you know. Listen, if, if something happens, I can promise you the CDA Gas and is prepared and we are ready to implement our forces, our staff, our employees, and all of our employees are on board. Uh, we have over 650 something employees for City of Gaston, and let me tell you, there's some of the finest people and they're all willing to volunteer their time. And not only that, the Governor Ivey issue in *** state declaration of emergency allows us to be reimbursed for all of their time, so. Uh, we wanna thank her for doing that, but we are prepared and we will be there, and, uh, we are *** caring, giving city. And not only that, when the last, when you mentioned earlier, when's the last time *** storm hit, we had to call in the city of Hoke Bluffs, the city of Atala, and they came in, help us clear trees, help us clear roads. Mayor Scott Reeves, Mayor Larry Means, and Itala, uh, we talk constantly and all the mayors in Otawall County talk and we have *** group text going on. If something happens, we'll, we'll help each other. Anything, uh, maybe on the first responder side of it, you know, this is supposed to be like 2 rounds. How are we also making sure that first responders are being safe, um, when they need to respond to emergency in the middle of the tumor. So man, I'll be honest with you, I, I leave that up to my chiefs. I have full faith and confidence in them and, uh, Vance Brown has been chief for about, uh, 63 months. He looks green enough, doesn't he? And Chief Lamar Jagger's been chief for how long? 8 years, uh, so he has *** lot of experience in dealing with this and, and they briefed me on the rotation, uh, but our fire department works 24 hour shifts, uh, so they're able to sleep at the place that they need be, but *** lot of times they don't sleep, you know, and we just make sure because *** lot of times the fire department fire personnel's houses and we encountered this with *** snowstorm recently. Uh, they couldn't come into work, uh, so we had to, uh, assist and go get them to get them to the, to the station. So that we're prepared. Uh, they, we have *** plan in place. How many uh storm shelters so we have, we, we have two tornado shelters, uh, and that's *** good question because we have what we call pre-shelters, uh, for tornado and then we have post shelters in case one hits. Uh, so the gas and public library is also *** third shelter, uh, that has can hold up to 150 people in the basement and also animals too. Uh, then we have two tornado shelters, uh, and they're in, they're at South Gaston and. Uh, one's in Alabama City and one's in Alabama City, South Gaston and and green pastures area on the east side and on the west side, uh, but also what's important are the post shelters is what we consider, uh, in case something does happen, where can people go, uh, so. When I was in the legislature, the, the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, and I remember flying down and just seeing people walking around and unfortunately like zombies, their place of employment was blown away, uh, their home was blown away, they lost loved ones and people just walking in circles and didn't have anywhere to go. So that always hit home to me to make sure we had somewhere for the people to go after *** storm and we're gonna use Kokolulu Kiwanis Pavilion and we'll use places all of our community centers throughout and we're stationed up Parks and Rec is ready to do that if necessary. OK. Anything else? All right, thank you all for coming. Appreciate you. Pray for the best.
PREPARE NOW: Emergency officials across Alabama on preparations ahead of expected tornado outbreak
Updated: 12:40 AM CDT Mar 15, 2025
LATEST FORECAST | STATE OF EMERGENCY | STORM SHELTERS | 米兰体育 13 LIVE DOPPLER RADAR | UPLOAD YOUR WEATHER PHOTOS | WAYS TO STAY SAFE | GET WEATHER NOTIFICATIONS 米兰体育 13 meteorologists are tracking a severe weather outbreak in Alabama Saturday with the chance of "long-track and potentially violent" tornadoes, hail and damaging winds.A rare Level 5 High Risk has been issued between Mississippi and Alabama for Saturday. >> How to turn on 米兰体育 13 weather alertsEmergency management officials from across Alabama are preparing people ahead of the threat of a tornado outbreak.Etowah County"We are prepared and we will be there," said Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford.Ford said that because of the State of Emergency put in place on Friday, all of the salaries for the emergency crews is reimbursed, which is helpful for the cities.Post shelters are important, Craig Ford said.Watch the full news conference from emergency officials in the video player above.Hale CountyMore than 400 first responders from across the state attended the drill in Hale County, ensuring they know what to do when disaster strikes.With the threat of severe weather this weekend, Hale County EMA Director Russell Weeden said the drill couldn't have come at a better time.In 2023, a tornado hit Donnie Wedgeworth's home, and the first responders quickly came to his aid. Wedgeworth said the drills are especially valuable in Hale County, where they've seen several tornadoes lately. The most recent hit the southern part of the county last month."We seem to be in the zone where they happen," he said. "It's amazing to see all the preparation and coordination when something does happen. All these different organizations, the firemen, police, the county people cutting limbs, the first responders, the linemen, it's amazing what they do. Everybody, everybody has a job, and they know to do it there. There's not confusion. They're trained and ready to go."Weeden said they expect to use the skills learned in the drill during the weekend's severe weather.Jefferson CountyNew Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency technology is providing severe weather updates and alerts in several languages ahead of a weekend threat.At the end of 2024, the agency unveiled a new software system that allows its website and app "JeffCoAlerts" to be available in eight different languages. The new technology was years in the making."In 2021...in January, the city of Fultondale was hit by a tornado at 10:30 at night. And some of the victims of the tornado lived in mobile homes, and they were Hispanic. So that also propelled us to seek further action," said Jefferson County EMA Director Jim Coker.A drop-down feature on the Jefferson County EMA website allows users to choose their language. Users can also do the same thing if they download the JeffCoAlerts app, and that will also allow critical alerts to come in the language of their choice. They are options Coker said came into focus four years ago."It was very important and turning point for us to know, hey, we need to get information out," Fultondale Fire Chief McKenzie said. "Not just English, but in our Hispanic communities. So now, with this new Civic Plus alert, we're able to send it in multiple languages, regardless of what the community is."Shelby CountyIn Shelby County, emergency management officials tell us they have been going around the county to make sure people are ready to deal with intense winds, heavy rain and tornadoes."The time to look for a shelter near you is today, not when the storms are on our doorsteps," said director of juvenile and risk operations, Hub Harvey. "It's been said many, many times that when opportunity knocks or disaster strikes, it's too late to prepare."Shelby County has 14 storm shelters if residents are in need of a safe place to stay.For the latest weather coverage for your area, click here. And stay updated with alerts in the 米兰体育 13 app. You can download it here.
GADSDEN, Ala. — LATEST FORECAST | STATE OF EMERGENCY | STORM SHELTERS | 米兰体育 13 LIVE DOPPLER RADAR | UPLOAD YOUR WEATHER PHOTOS | WAYS TO STAY SAFE | GET WEATHER NOTIFICATIONS
米兰体育 13 meteorologists are tracking a severe weather outbreak in Alabama Saturday with the chance of "long-track and potentially violent" tornadoes, hail and damaging winds.
A rare Level 5 High Risk has been issued between Mississippi and Alabama for Saturday.
>> How to turn on 米兰体育 13 weather alerts
Emergency management officials from across Alabama are preparing people ahead of the threat of a tornado outbreak.
Etowah County
"We are prepared and we will be there," said Gadsden Mayor Craig Ford.
Ford said that because of the State of Emergency put in place on Friday, all of the salaries for the emergency crews is reimbursed, which is helpful for the cities.
Post shelters are important, Craig Ford said.
Watch the full news conference from emergency officials in the video player above.
Hale County
More than 400 first responders from across the state attended the drill in Hale County, ensuring they know what to do when disaster strikes.
With the threat of severe weather this weekend, Hale County EMA Director Russell Weeden said the drill couldn't have come at a better time.
In 2023, a tornado hit Donnie Wedgeworth's home, and the first responders quickly came to his aid. Wedgeworth said the drills are especially valuable in Hale County, where they've seen several tornadoes lately. The most recent hit the southern part of the county last month.
"We seem to be in the zone where they happen," he said. "It's amazing to see all the preparation and coordination when something does happen. All these different organizations, the firemen, police, the county people cutting limbs, the first responders, the linemen, it's amazing what they do. Everybody, everybody has a job, and they know to do it there. There's not confusion. They're trained and ready to go."
Weeden said they expect to use the skills learned in the drill during the weekend's severe weather.
Jefferson County
New Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency technology is providing severe weather updates and alerts in several languages ahead of a weekend threat.
At the end of 2024, the agency unveiled a new software system that allows its website and app "JeffCoAlerts" to be available in eight different languages. The new technology was years in the making.
"In 2021...in January, the city of Fultondale was hit by a tornado at 10:30 at night. And some of the victims of the tornado lived in mobile homes, and they were Hispanic. So that also propelled us to seek further action," said Jefferson County EMA Director Jim Coker.
A drop-down feature on the Jefferson County EMA website allows users to choose their language. Users can also do the same thing if they download the JeffCoAlerts app, and that will also allow critical alerts to come in the language of their choice. They are options Coker said came into focus four years ago.
"It was very important and turning point for us to know, hey, we need to get information out," Fultondale Fire Chief McKenzie said. "Not just English, but in our Hispanic communities. So now, with this new Civic Plus alert, we're able to send it in multiple languages, regardless of what the community is."
Shelby County
In Shelby County, emergency management officials tell us they have been going around the county to make sure people are ready to deal with intense winds, heavy rain and tornadoes.
"The time to look for a shelter near you is today, not when the storms are on our doorsteps," said director of juvenile and risk operations, Hub Harvey. "It's been said many, many times that when opportunity knocks or disaster strikes, it's too late to prepare."
Shelby County has if residents are in need of a safe place to stay.
For the latest weather coverage for your area, click here. And stay updated with alerts in the 米兰体育 13 app. You can download it here.