By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Put your shoes on before severe weather hits. One of the big messages to come out of the 2001 Hoisington tornado is the importance of having reliable shoes should there be rubble to navigate. That's why Barton County Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller attended Wednesday's commission meeting to proclaim the week of March 6-10 as Severe Weather Preparedness week. The state saw its first tornado of 2023 Sunday in southwest Kansas.
"Actually, there were only 56 tornadoes that occurred last year, and that is well below the average, but that was even up from the year before that," Miller said. "We have kind of been in a real downturn for the number of tornadoes."
The strongest tornado in Kansas last year was the EF-3 twister that passed through portions of Butler and Sedgwick counties on April 29. Miller said the president did not declare an emergency, which made several aid programs unavailable to those without adequate insurance.
"That's another reason for everybody to be prepared," she said, "not only for where they're going to take cover during severe weather, but to look at their insurance coverage."
Commissioner Duane Reif lived in Hoisington at the time of the 2001 tornado. He seconded the importance of being prepared.
"Make sure you keep an emergency kit somewhere safe," he said. "I didn't think it was all that important until you do have a tornado. I have to agree 100 percent. People didn't even know what their insurance covered until they checked their insurance and realized they weren't covered like they thought they were."
Heading into the dangerous spring season, the National Weather Service out of Wichita will again present its "Storm Fury on the Plains" program at the Crest Theater in Great Bend at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 13.
"They really just want to get out," Miller said, "talk to the public, encourage communication between the public and the Weather Service, and just to make everybody aware of what they're seeing when they're outside looking at things."