Monday kicks off Severe Weather Awareness Week in Kentucky and the campaign kickoff was held Thursday in Christian County, which was the site of Kentucky’s strongest tornado in 2018.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Paducah Rick Shanklin says 2018 saw numerous fatalities due to severe weather—along with 9 people injured in the February 24 EF-2 tornado that struck Hopkinsville and destroyed apartment buildings on Calvin Drive.
He says The National Weather Service, along with local and Kentucky Emergency Management, are urging people to take the week and practice severe weather emergency plans.
Christian County Emergency Management Director Randy Graham says local weather spotters and media agencies play an important role in sending in information and putting information out into the community for citizens to be aware of weather conditions.
He encourages citizens to develop a plan and make sure everyone in your family knows it.
Shanklin says it’s important to remember that any severe thunderstorm could have the potential to develop a tornado or dangerous winds, along with lightning, which is an ever present danger in both severe and not severe thunderstorms.
The peak severe weather season for this region is normally during the spring months of April and May and there will be a tornado drill across the state on March 6.