No child or adult in Meade County on April 3, 1974 can ever forget the tornado which began in Breckinridge County and left a trail of destruction along Highway 79 into Brandenburg.  This twister left 31 dead in its wake and another two died shortly afterward.  Every year, this area is impacted by severe weather in the form of lightening, high winds, hail, heavy rains and microbursts as well as the threat of tornadoes.  Though severe storms can occur during any month of the year, the period of March through June is always dangerous.

Lightening takes the lives of many Kentuckians each year. Your best protection from lightening is to move indoors.  If you are outside and cannot do so, squat low to the ground on the balls of your feet and place your hands over your ears and put your head between your legs.  Lying down is far more dangerous than squatting.  Make yourself the smallest target possible for a strike.  Vehicles will also provide lightening protection even though they are a hazardous place to be in a tornado.  If this occurs, seek shelter in a ditch or ravine away from your vehicle.

Severe storms, tornadoes, flash flooding and intense straight line winds can cause you to lose control of your vehicle. Always hold the steering wheel at the “10 and 2” o’clock positions. If there have been heavy rains, be aware of hydroplaning on rain slick highways. SLOW DOWN! Watch out for fallen debris from severe storms such as trees and power lines. Never attempt to cross a flooded roadway even if you feel you know how deep it is. Your vehicle could stall and you might become trapped inside.

If a tornado comes, get to the lowest level of your home or office. In buildings without basements, seek shelter in a closet or bathroom in the center of the house.  Mobile homes and vehicles should be abandoned in favor of storm cellars, basements at a close neighbor’s or if there is no alternative, a ditch or ravine.  Years ago, the belief was to open as many windows as possible and go to the southwest corner of the basement.  Research has shown in years since that these moves are not safe.  In fact, opening the windows will most likely increase damage and cost you time better used in reaching shelter.  It also does not seem to matter which side of the basement you are in as long as you seek shelter and try to get under heavy furniture or a stairwell.

Many people have expressed displeasure through the years with the old style of NOAA weather radios. These radios were activated by a single tone that would awaken you for all alerts regardless of if they are for Meade County or Trimble County, Ky. Modern technology has created a new weather receiver with Specific Area Message Encoding or “SAME” technology. These receivers, though a little more expensive than the old style units, are programmed by YOU, the owner, to activate for only the county or group of counties you want and also for only the TYPES of alerts you want to hear. 

“Radio Shack” stores have three models of these. Prices range from a high of $79.95 for the most elaborate model to much lower prices for the less complicated units. These have battery back up for operation when power is off.  I have my receiver at home set to alert me for watches and warnings concerning severe storms, tornadoes, flash floods and winter storm alerts.  I have also set it to activate for what are called “Special Messages”, such as might be issued by state or county emergency management agencies for hazardous materials and other non weather activations like AMBER alerts.   I also used the feature which allows you to program in additional counties by setting it for not only Meade County but also for Breckinridge, Grayson, Hancock and the Indiana counties of Dubois, Perry, Crawford and Harrison.  This can give me many extra minutes of advance warning of storms approaching our county from the southwest, west and northwest long before they get here.  I have used this receiver for 3 years now and find it to be well worth the price.  As insurance goes, it was very cheap!

The effectiveness of these alert radios was increased in 2002 when the Louisville National Weather Service Office activated a new transmitter here in Meade County, near Ekron, Ky. on the frequency of 162.450 MHz. This transmitter carries the same information as their 162.475 MHz main transmitter in Louisville and the remote on 162.550 MHz. in Elizabethtown. This new addition gives excellent coverage across Meade County for official NWS weather information and WARNINGS! 

During severe weather events, Meade County cooperates with the National Weather Service in a program called “SkyWarn”. This program educates police, fire, EMS and amateur radio operators as well as private citizens to be “Storm Spotters” who watch for and report threatening weather. When severe weather is confirmed, the spotter network then informs the Louisville NWS so that accurate warnings can be issued.  In 2008, Meade County Emergency Management also began using a new program called “WxSpots”. WxSpots is an easy to learn web program which enables the average citizen to communicate their observations via the internet to local emergency management.

If you are interested in becoming a SkyWarn Storm Spotter and/or want to become a part of Meade County’s WxSpots network, contact Meade County Emergency Management Agency.