With all the storms passing through the area lately, Clarke County Emergency Management would like to update the records on storm shelters that started a few years ago so that they can better serve the community in the event of an emergency.
“We’ve had several storms coming to our area lately,” explained EMA Director Toshia Evans. “We’re asking for any residents in the county that have a storm shelter to contact the 911 Dispatch Office at 601-776-6089 or the EMA Office at 601-776-2256 and let us know about their storm shelter.”
They will need just a little information about the storm shelters to keep on record so that they will know where to look and what may be needed if inclement weather comes through the county.
“If they have a storm shelter at their residence, then we just need a little information about it,” continued Evans. “We’ll need their name, their address, and a brief description of their storm shelter and where it is located. If a storm or anything comes through, we need to know where we can possibly locate those people. It would be a great help to have it in our records. We just need a small description saying if it is above ground or below ground and where we can find it, such as behind the house or beside the porch. We would also need to know if anyone in the house may have handicap or medical needs that may need to be attended to so that we’ll know if we need to bring supplies to be prepared for that. It could also help our supervisors to know who does and doesn’t have storm shelters in their district.”
Although some may have called when they first started collecting information on storm shelters a few years ago, they are encouraged to call and update their information just to make sure it is there. Anyone who has made any new editions or installed a new shelter is encouraged to contact them and provide them with the necessary information so that they can locate anyone who may be trapped in a storm shelter from debris after a storm.
To provide storm shelter information, contact the 911 Dispatch Office at 601-776-6089 or the EMA Office at 601-776-2256.
