Madison County EMA gives tips to stay safe during summer storms

MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – Summer has officially begun and with summer, comes thunderstorms.
Madison County Emergency Management Director, Dustin Heiser, says Kentucky sees a range of severe weather.

“We see a lot of squall lines, some pop up thunderstorms that can become super cells, those bring a lot of rain that’s one of our significant issues in probably all of Kentucky is flooding. We can have tornadoes straight line winds with those” said Heiser.

He says in the past 12 years, The Madison County area has had some of its worst storms.

“Just historically since about 2009, we’ve had a tornado, an EF 3 tornado in part of Madison County and our biggest concern since then has been flooding, we’ve seen quite a bit of flooding in 2010, 2015 and then the last two years” said Heiser.

Emergency Management works behind the scenes ahead of storms, helping you know what to expect.

“We here work and communicate maybe possible needs or higher level situations if we had flooding or had a tornado activating the sirens making sure our equipment is ready so we can communicate properly to the citizens.”

So now that summertime storms are here, how can you stay safe?
Heiser says what is important is knowing where it floods, staying on higher ground. He says to make sure you use generators safely and pack emergency kits. And in the case of a tornado, go to a basement.

“If you don’t have that, then know where the center of your house is.”

Madison County EMA has even more tips to stay safe this summer. You can find more information below.