TERT Newsletter Update: It's Just What We Do
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by Aubrey Scanlon, Communications Manager, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office
Severe weather is a way of life in Oklahoma. In the comm. center, we look upon the storm season with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Several tornadoes have impacted our county directly in the last nearly 15 years, so it is not new to us. We discuss, we practice.Still, you never feel quite ready when the real deal is finally here. Nothing can really prepare you for the things we dealt with the last two weeks of May 2013.
May 18, 2013, was the celebration of my 14th year with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office. I reflected on how much I've learned and how far I've come. When I started in 1999, I missed the historic May 3 tornado by just a couple weeks. Since then we have had tornadoes in 2003, 2010, and 2011 in which I was in Dispatch and actively working.
The 2013 storm season had been blessedly quiet up to that point, unusual for Oklahoma. The good thing about being in Tornado Alley is that we have some of the best meteorologists in the world right here in our own backyard. The tricky thing about severe weather is that you never know just how severe it is going to be. However, we have grown accustomed to receiving threat analysis at least a day or two ahead of a big storm. The weekend of May 17-19 was no different.
As the Communication Manager, I have learned to keep a close eye on the weather. I utilize various sources, including local meteorologists and social media. I am still learning to discern those who are imparting solid information that should be considered closely and those who are not. All sources unanimously agreed that weekend would be the weekend for significant weather...
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