More than 40 people lost their lives last weekend due to the series of violent storms that ripped through the states of Kentucky and Indiana.

Those storms were projected to hit the south central part of the state, but instead tornados touched down in West Liberty in Eastern Kentucky and several tornados hit in Southern Indiana.

While most residents in Clinton County are saying “we got lucky” that the storms didn’t hit in our area, the Clinton County officials did take the necessary measures in order to prepare for the worst.

At 11 a.m. Friday morning, the decision had been made to let school out at an early releaase time of 1 p.m.

Emergency Services Director Lonnie Scott said he went to Superintendant Micky McFall’s office to discuss possible actions.

“I went to the superintendant’s office and he had (transportation director) Larry Koger on speaker phone and we made the decision to let school out,” Scott said. “That was the consensus of all the people there at the time. Due to the time frame that they were giving us for Friday, which was a window of three p.m. to seven p.m. for us, would have been when it hit if it had held out. The thing the school had to take into consideration was making sure they didn’t have students on busses during that time frame.”

Even though the storms passed above and below Clinton County, Scott said they didn’t know Clinton County was out of the woods until around seven p.m.

“We actually kept an eye on it until around seven o’clock that night,” Scott said. “We went back and looked at the national weather service and tracked it and saw that it had actually split.”

Being prepared for a severe storm could save your life and the lives of those you love. Scott said knowing the weather patterns could make the difference.

“Knowing weather patterns and having back up radios and weather radios … I really buy into that,” Scott said. “To me the big thing is knowing the weather forecast.”

In modern times, weather updates can come as easily as looking at a cellular phone. With the internet on most phones, it has become easily accessible. Scott believes it has made a big difference in how people prepare.

“Most people subscribe to News Channel 5 or some type of weather application that will send those alerts to phones. We were talking to a group of people a while ago, and they were actually some older people, and we were talking about the reverse 911 that we are getting ready to be put in place. We talked about how those weather updates will come directly to people’s land lines.”

Even though cell phones with internet access have become popular, some people don’t have that access to the internet in their homes, so their land lines could be their only line of defense when a major storm system comes through.

“That seems to be getting away from the norm because a lot of people are getting away from a land line phone and going toward cell phones, so as those things are available, I think they have helped in the preparedness,” Scott said.

With the storm system that went though last weekend, and it being early in the year for storms, Scott said this is just the beginning and he believes a severe storm season is yet to come.

When severe storms are in the forecast, Scott said he and his crew spread vehicles and personnel out in the county.

“We like to spread out a little so that we don’t have everything in one location,” Scott said. “We’ve found churches with big carports and banks with drive thrus so if the storms hit in one place we are not wiped out.”

Scott said there wasn’t any reported damage to homes or property other than a few trees downed.

“We haven’t heard of anything other than a few trees down in places,” Scott said. “This one absolutely missed us. It split and went around us.”

There are several ways people can prepare for storm season. Below are a few suggestions in order to be prepared when bad weather hits:

• Know in advance your weather forecasts.

• Own a battery backup NOAA Weather Alert Radio and batter (or crank) operated AM/FM radio for local broadcasts.

• Stay tuned to your local broadcasting stations.

• Discuss conditions with family members and know their location during times of known potentially threatening conditions.

• Discuss your plan with family members and neighbors.

• Review your plan periodically for necessary updates.

• Refresh your emergency kit (s).

• Drill: practice your plan with household members.

• If you own a generator, read and familiarize yourself with the owner’s safety manual before ever attempting to use it.

• Make a kit: Kit should include first aid kit and essential medications; extra eyeglasses, canned food and can opener, at least three gallons of water per person, protective clothing, rain gear, and bedding or sleeping bags, battery powered (or crank) radio, flashlights and extra batteries, waterproof matches and candles, local phone book, special items for infants, elderly or disabled family members, and extra set of car keys.

Although the severe storms that moved across this region of the nation last weekend weren’t much of an issue for residents of Albany and Clinton County, the system did have enough of a presence here to give officials cause for concern for some time.

Clinton County EMS employee Mark Thrasher made this photograph of a storm cell that moved over his house Friday afternoon, and was beginning to show signs of rotation as he was observing it. The cell eventually broke up before producing a funnel cloud in this area, but several tornados hit other regions of Kentucky and Tennessee, causing more than 40 deaths and millions of dollars in structural damage.

Photo by Mark Thrasher