Storm spotter training to take place in Bourbon County on March 10

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- During National Severe Weather Awareness Week, Bourbon County residents will have the opportunity to learn how to be a storm spotter.

The Bourbon County Department of Emergency Management will be hosting a storm spotter training class for local residents who want to become storm spotters or simply learn more about storms and how to identify the warning signs.

According to the Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers, the community is welcome to attend the event which will be held at 6:30 p.m., March 10, in the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton St. The class will run about two hours and will provide information on how to identify storms and how to properly report them to Department of Emergency Management.

Jeffers said it is important to have community members monitor storms from their homes. He said only experienced storm spotters should leave their homes to track storms.

This year many storm spotters will be using the social networking Web site Twitter.com to relay information to the Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service, according to Jeffers. He said the NWS will be monitoring the Web site frequently and hopes its use will limit the number of calls to 911 centers. Jeffers added, he can put together a report and pass it along to the NWS in a matter of seconds where as a 911 center will not be able to pass the information along as quickly.

The class is offered free of charge and it is requested that small children be left at home because of the length of the class. No pre-registration is necessary.

The same class will also be offered in Crawford County on March 24, Jasper County, Mo., on March 9; Newton County on March 11; Allen County on March 10; and Neosho County on March 22.

Jeffers said that later in the summer an awareness course will also be offered which will be a similar class but will not go into the reporting aspect. He said utility workers and community members are encouraged to attend to learn how to recognize different stages of storms and how to identify the dangers of storms. The time, date, and location of this course will be announced at a later date.

A storm spotter training session also was conducted in Vernon County on Thursday, coordinated by Vernon County emergency management officials and the NWS.

For more information about the Bourbon County session, contact Jeffers at (620) 223-3800, ext. 46 or by e-mail at kjeffers@bourboncountyks.org.