It was a busy day for emergency responders around Coweta County. But Sept. 5 would have been much busier if the thunderstorms that barreled through the county Monday afternoon had produced the stronger storms anticipated by the National Weather Service. In all, Coweta had five tornado warnings during the afternoon hours but no resulting tornados and no storm damage from Tropical Storm Lee. Damage or not, the weather event pointed to the need to have additional severe weather sirens located around the county.
Coweta County Emergency Management Agency Director Jay Jones said a total of five tornado warnings were issued during the afternoon in various parts of the county. Those warnings, said Jones, were not because a tornado had been spotted. They came after sufficient cloud rotation was detected on radar, Jones added.
The rotating clouds in the storm fronts were certainly there. One of those entered southeast Coweta from Meriwether County, tracking north at 40 miles per hour through Haralson, Turin and Senoia and continuing northward into Fayette County. Jones said another came up from Troup County, again moving north with what was left of Tropical Storm Lee.
Alerts notwithstanding, Jones said there was no storm damage from wind or lightning reported and very little rain. Rainfall reported around the county totaled .75-1.0 inches, Jones said.
And while there was no damage resulting from the storms, the weather did provide a good example of why Coweta County needs additional severe weather sirens beyond the eight that are located inside Newnan city limits, said Jones.
Jones stressed the need to have severe weather sirens located in the county’s municipalities and, hopefully, in the various outdoor facilities such as athletic venues around the county. That could be accomplished, at least in part, with the inclusion of severe weather sirens on the upcoming proposal to extend the county’s 1-cent tax (SPLOST) expected to go before voters in 2012.
Approaching the issue from an alternate perspective, Jones said he is currently applying for a Georgia Emergency Management Agency grant to obtain some of the needed sirens.
