Bryan Co. Emergency Managers stay alert

BRYAN CO., Okla. (KXII) - Even though severe weather didn’t hit Texoma Wednesday, News 12′s meteorologists were standing by and ready.

And so were Bryan County’s Emergency Managers, “emergency management is a 24 hour a day job,” said Danielle O’Neal, Durant’s Community Development Director.

Emergency Managers have a list of roles they cover, they prepare plans in the event of natural disasters or other emergencies and also respond in the event a natural disaster happens.

But they’re also eyes and ears for the cities and counties they cover to issue warnings.

“Durant Emergency Management does a special weather brief for local businesses and partners,” said Cody Allen, Bryan County’s Emergency Manager.

Allen said these announcements go out the day before or day of severe weather, “put a lot of the information of what could happen,” Allen said.

They are also tuned in to the National Weather Services live group chat and radar.

“They don’t realize people are watching the weather 24/7 whether or not there’s actually something going on, it can be anything that’s happening within the city,” O’Neal said.

Emergency Managers also manage storm spotters, “having those storm spotters really helps save lives and save people and let people know what’s there and what’s actually happening on the ground.”

They are also responsible for sounding outdoor warning sirens, “something about storm sirens is that a lot of people are not really aware of, they are outdoor sirens only so they only cover a certain radius from the sirens”

Allen suggests you have multiple ways to stay weather aware.

Both Bryan County and Durant have notification services to register for to be alerted.

Or you can download the free KXII Weather Authority app, which alerts you when storms approach.

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