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NWS: More radar would cost $1 milion to $25 million; wouldn't have detected small Feb. 22 tornado anyway

 

-Lans P. Rothfusz, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, told county commissioners today that additional radar to spot potential tornadoes would cost between $1 millioni and $25 million -- and that's not counting calibration costs and annual maintenance.

-What's more, Rothfusz says there's little guarantee those radar units would have spotted the Ash Wednesday Tornado because it was a "ground up" tornado, meaning it started to form on the surface. 

-Weather service radar is trained to find the larger, "killer" tornadoes such as those that slammed the Southeast, including Floyd County, on April 27.

-Commission Chairman Irwin Bagwell asked Scotty Hancock, Floyd's emergency management director, to attend the meeting to discuss the tornado. Hancock brief commissioners on the storm's outcome including $1.6 million in damage, probably about $50,000 in Georgia Power equipment replacement, one death and dozens of structures damaged. Another community clean up for the Kingston Highway area is set for Saturday, Hancock says.

-The county's Code RED status also was discussed. Hancock says 13,444 households in Floyd subscribe to Code RED. Of that total, more than 7,000 were alerted to the severe thunderstorm in our area the night of the tornado. Rothfusz says the tornado actually was spawned from another storm and not the one that prompted the Code RED alert.

-The weather service favors the "polygon" notification system -- community by community vs. countywide -- because of fears that people would become apathetic by repeated storm calls for severe weather outside their immediate area.

 

Updates: Map shows tornado's path, area receiving alert

-The above map from the National Weather Service shows the path of the Ash Wednesday Tornado as it set down near the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds just off Kingston Highway and continued almost due east across the Bypass and then along 293 again. It was an F-1 tornado (95-mph winds) at first and faded to F-0 beyond the Freeman Ferry Road intersection. The map to the right shows the "polygon" of the area that received the severe thunderstorm warning via Code RED Wednesday night. It basically is just below the Ga. 293 zone.. Click NWS

 

Hometown/WRGA poll: Use countywide Code RED alerts

-Nearly 250 people responded to a Hometown Headlines and WRGA 1470 AM poll about the best way to use the Code RED severe weather alert system. Final results show 190 people want countywide alerts (76.9 percent) vs. 70 (28.3 percent) who prefer the alerts by based by smaller communities or neighborhoods. There was one undecided vote.

-The Feb. 22 tornado caught all by surprise although a Code RED alert had gone out regarding a severe thunderstorm warning -- but to areas to the south of where the storm actually hit. Floyd Emergency Management Director Scotty Hancock says the Code RED system currently is set up for specific by-community alerts but can be changed to issue countywide alerts.

-Example: If Lindale is the specific storm concern, all Code RED users in Floyd would get notice. Hancock is reviewing survey results to decide if the community wants a change.

-Just updated: A look at your comments sent in with the Code RED survey. Click Buzz

 

Community Organizations Assisting in Disaster continues to help those hit by the Ash Wednesday tornado:

-Donations: Please make checks payable to COAD and mail them to 17 Burnett Ferry Road, Rome, Ga., 30165.

-Volunteering: call 706 -844-4490 or click email.

-Background: 100 percent of all donations go directly to help the victims affected by disasters here.

-Next: COAD will be offering training opportunities in Emergency Response Training, Tarp Installation Lessons, Chainsaw Certification and Community Emergency Response Team training offered by Floyd County. You may register now for CERT Training in March: CERT