This is what NOAA Weather Radio would tell you right now.
I know this stuff because a friend called and told me to check on the Internet.
But people who can’t afford $21 for a radio don’t have Internet connections;
some don’t have telephones.
When there’s severe weather frequently telephones don’t work, either.
The red line is severe weather heading this way fast:
So I’ll give you my opinion, like I gave it to the County Commission,
and at the end of this post there’s a chronological list of links to
all the NOAA Weather Radio posts so far.
But first, what do these radios do?
According
to NOAA:
NWR is an “All Hazards” radio network, making it your single source for
comprehensive weather and emergency information. In conjunction with
Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials,
NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types
of hazards – including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches),
environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety
(such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).
I spoke after
J.L. Clark on 22 Feb 2011.
There is no video, because LAKE had only one camera at that meeting.
From memory, here is the gist of what I said.
I live out on the edge of the county.
I remember when Ashley Paulk moved in next door.
Clark pointed out that nobody said anything when the state effectively
raised property taxes.
He read off a list of other grants the county has accepted,
and asked:
Are you going to return those grants?
I think not.
He brought up a recent earthquake and pointed out those radios
would be quite useful in such a natural disaster.
I ask the Commissioners to think before you act,
and not to react to you-know-what.
The commissioners made no response.
Here’s
the video:
Lowndes County Commission, 22 Feb 2011, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
We’ve already seen staff present the case for
about 5,000 NOAA Weather Radios at $21.50 each, paid for out of grant money.
They made that case at the 8:30AM 7 Feb 2011 Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
stating Lowndes County had been awarded $107,500.00, in Hazard Mitigation
grant funding for the purchase of 5,000 NOAA weather radios to benefit
all of Lowndes County. Mr. Tye added that Alert Works had presented the
low bid in the amount of $21.50 per radio.
Finally, the Commission had some discussion.
According to the minutes:
Continue reading →
We’ve already heard about NOAA Weather Radios from two different citizens,
Nolen Cox
and Ken Klanicki.
What are they talking about?
As usual, much of the discussion was in the work session
(8:30 AM Monday 7 Feb 2011), available here in two parts.
In
Part 1
staff talks about buying about 5,000 NOAA weather radios
so the citizens can get weather news.
Low bidder would charge $21.50 per radio.
Lowndes County Commission, 7 Feb 2011, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
In
Part 2, staff notes that the grant would require that
the radios can’t be earmarked, so people could come to the
county office to pick up radios, and staff proposes to have
several community events throughout the community, well-advertised,
for people to pick up radios and staff to answer questions about them.
One of the commissioners notes:
That’s almost $108,000 tax money
what happens to that grant money if, we say you know,
it might not be a good idea […]
what happens to that?
This LTE appeared in the VDT yesterday (28 Feb 2011). -jsq
Former Lowndes County commissioner Richard Lee once told me “…the
learning curve is very steep for first-time commissioners.” Our new county
commissioners, Richard Raines and Crawford Powell, are living proof of the
veracity of that statement. In case Bill O’Reilly is reading this, here’s a
few examples.
Earlier this month a grant application for the purchase of 5,000 weather
emergency radios was nixed by a 2 – 1 vote. The radios could’ve been a means
for citizens residing in remote areas of the county to
Local resident Nolen Cox says government grants are more addictive than drugs,
and “all the federal money is my tax money.”
He mentions federal debt, and lists only social programs.
Regarding grants, he’s specifically referring to a proposal to
accept a grant for NOAA weather radios, which we’ll come back to later.
His other topic is that he thinks we need more oil, more nuclear, and
biomass.
His recommendation:
“I would stop discusssing it.”
He thinks it’s like global warming, which he thinks is a lie.
He sums up:
Build the plant, employ people, get on with the program.
It’s interesting that these are about the best arguments biomass proponents have.
Perhaps he’s not aware that shutting off the debate was tried recently
and doesn’t seem to be working too well.
Here’s
the video.
Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, 8 February 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
