It may be a little early to think about snow and ice, but county officials are already making plans for when system and lake effect snow could impact travel in the area.
Marshall County Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery informed the Marshall County Safety Committee last week of the different levels of advisories that could be issued during severe weather this winter.
The Marshall County Highway Department is ready to handle winter weather, according to Jason Peters, Supervisor of County Highways.
He commented on the status of the department in a Marshall County Safety Committee meeting this week. Peters said the highway department has a good system of when to send out workers to clear the roads of snow and ice.
Police officers spoke to those assembled in a Marshall County Safety Committee meeting this week where they gave school, highway and emergency management officials some things to remember in case of an emergency.
Indiana State Police Troopers want to work with local law enforcement agencies and the school corporations during certain critical situations. One officer indicated that social media can hamper efforts of the police when investigating potential hazardous situations that involve student safety. Police agencies have protocols in place to deal with bomb threats and active shooter reports, as do school corporation. It was recommended that law enforcement and administrators need to come together to solidify a plan. A recent situation was cited where a bomb threat was reported at a school corporation in the region and students were texting parents to pick them up from school when police needed to keep those students together for safety reasons, student count and witness accounts.
The Marshall County Safety Committee met this week to go over protocols to make sure all are on the same page when dealing with severe weather, school incidents and roads.
School representatives from Plymouth, Argos, Bremen, Culver, Triton, John Glenn and Culver Military Academy all spoke, commenting on current procedures and things they’d like to focus on in a possible work session.
Plymouth School Superintendent Dan Tyree explained that he will bring a proposal to the school board in October to add a three hour delay to the start of school as an option during severe weather in the winter months.
In conjunction with the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut, the Marshall County Safety Committee will be conducting an earthquake drill on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10:15 a.m.
Most people do not associate earthquakes with Indiana, despite the fact that two major seismic zones – New Madrid and Wabash Valley – are in close enough proximity that they could create earthquakes with a magnitude as high as 8. Perhaps because of this proximity, as the years go on, it has become increasingly more common for property owners in the area to hire a foundation contractor for Earthquake Retrofitting Services in order to keep their home and family safe. It is crucial to conduct a foundation repair if there are cracks on your property’s foundation or walls.
The drill is designed to test preparedness capabilities in the event of an earthquake in the state, which could cause significant damage to buildings and critical infrastructures including roads, bridges, electrical grids, and natural supply gas lines throughout much of the state. Top that off with the fact that scientists believe we are overdue for a major earthquake, and the necessity for such a drill is obvious.
