Hurricane season is already underway, bringing the threat of tropical

storms that could head inland and cause serious damage with heavy rains

and high winds.

Local emergency officials

are urging local residents to stay prepared year-round and the threat

of severe weather from tropical storms is a

good reason for local families to prepare themselves if they haven't

already done so, said Capt. Pete Nelms of the Fayette County Department

of Fire and Emergency Services.

"These events are rare, but they do occur," Nelms

said.

In recent years, Fayette has been hit with hundreds of thousands of

dollars of damage in two separate tropical storms, Nelms said.

In July 1994, tropical storm

Alberto "sat" on the area, dropping

21 inches of rain in 18 hours. Homes were flooded. Roads and bridges

were washed out. The Flint River and Whitewater Creek were above flood

stage, while Starr's Mill was partially underwater.

The storm also wrought one fatality in the Tyrone area with a drowning,

Nelms said. Another man escaped death after he avoided a barricade and

tried to cross the Flint River bridge on Hampton Road; his vehicle started

to float away but he clung to a tree branch until he could be rescued,

Nelms said.

In October 1996, tropical storm Opal brought severe winds upwards of

50 and 60 miles per hour, causing major power outages all over the county

as trees fell. Roads were blocked throughout the county, although all

were partially passable within 24 hours thanks to emergency crews.

In both storms, emergency shelters were opened thanks to help from the

Fayette County School System and the American Red Cross, Nelms said.

The county also activated its emergency operations center, which is designed

to insure coordination between departments, agencies and neighboring

jurisdictions to respond appropriately to emergencies.

When severe weather strikes,

it's usually helpful to stay at home,

Nelms suggests.

NOAA weather radios, which can be programmed to receive alerts only

for Fayette County, can come in handy for making sure family members

get to safety, Nelms said.

Local emergency officials now have the capability of making special

announcements through the NOAA weather radio system if necessary, Nelms

added.

It's also important for

families to have a disaster plan and make sure everyone is educated

on what to do, Nelms added. Part of that includes

maintaining an emergency preparedness kit, he said.

Some families might consider having a licensed professional contractor

install an emergency generator in case power lines go out for any length

of time.

Residents can also contact their insurance companies beforehand to determine

if there are any actions to take which can reduce premiums, such as removing

low hanging branches from trees, Nelms said.

Homeowners can also order special bracing for the rafters during construction

and install a safe room in a basement for further storm protection, Nelms

added.

New weather forecasting technology has helped county emergency officials

prepare for any storm, Nelms said. When a storm begins to develop in

the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, officials begin to track them with

computers just in case the threat to Fayette increases as the days wear

on.

"There are some excellent resources," Nelms said. "It

gives us a lot of time to prepare for them."

Those preparations can include

adjusting the schedules of emergency personnel to make sure the county's

needs can be met, Nelms said.

Fayette County's StormReady

certification from the National Weather Service is also a good measure

of how prepared the county is for severe

weather emergencies, Nelms said.

The StormReady program measures how Fayette County receives its weather

information, how it issues alerts, and critiques the emergency plans

that have been developed to respond to such emergencies.