AND OVER IN POTTAWATOMIE, POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY, WHERE THAT IS, THEY’RE STILL ASSESSING DAMAGES. AFTER THIS MORNING’S STORM AND JOINED OVER THE PHONE. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR, CHAD LARMON. CHAD, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. YOU’RE WELCOME. HAPPY TO BE HERE. SO JUST GIVE US AN OVERVIEW OF THE DAMAGE THAT YOU ALL ARE SEEING. THIS MORNING. AND IF THERE ARE ANY INJURIES THAT ARE BEING REPORTED. LUCKILLY RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE NO REPORTS OF INJURIES IN THE COUNTY, BUT WE DO HAVE WE JUST FINISHED UP OUR PRELIMINARY DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. WE HAVE SEVEN STRUCTURES THAT WERE DAMAGED. UH, ONE OF THOSE WAS IN DALE AND THEN SOME OTHER WAS JUST SOUTH OF OUR OF 177 AND ACME ROAD, UM, NUMEROUS DOWNED TREES, POWER LINES DOWN. UM, WE DO HAVE A LOT OF VEHICLES THAT WERE DAMAGED, UH, FROM DEBRIS FLYING THROUGH THE AIR, BUT SO FAR, NO, NO REPORTS OF INJURIES. WELL, THAT IS REALLY GOOD NEWS. AND JUST WALK US THROUGH THOSE MOMENTS BEFORE AND DURING THE SEVERE WEATHER. WHAT DID THAT FEEL LIKE THERE IN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY? UH, SO WE’VE BEEN MY TEAM’S BEEN UP SINCE ABOUT THREE THIS MORNING MONITORING THE WEATHER. AND, UH, WHEN IT CAME THROUGH, WE HAD WE HAD SOME OF OUR, UM, OUR STAFF THERE RIGHT ON THE STORM’S ON A TORNADO WARNING WAS ISSUED. SO WE WERE FOLLOWING THEM, FOLLOWING THEM IN, UH, AS SOON AS THEY ENTERED THE COUNTY AND WAS WAS MONITORING AND PUSHING OUT NOTIFICATIONS TO ALL THE PUBLIC TO WARN THEM. BUT, UH, IT WAS VERY SOBERING. A YEAR AGO, WE GOT HIT, AND NOW WE’VE POSSIBLY GOT THREE MORE TORNADOES TODAY. TALK ABOUT THE COUNTY’S ALERT SYSTEM. UH, WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT CODE RED. HOW MUCH THAT HELPED YOUR RESIDENTS AND YOUR OFFICE. YEAH. SO THAT IS A THAT IS A VERY COOL PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT WE HAVE THOSE THOSE ARE AUTOMATIC NOTIFICATIONS THAT COME OUT TO THE PUBLIC. WHOEVER SIGNS UP FOR IT, UM, IT’S FOR TORNADO WARNINGS, SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS. AND THAT GOES DIRECTLY TO THEIR LOCAL OF WHATEVER THEY PUT IN THEIR ADDRESS TO THEIR HOME, THEIR WORK, WHATEVER IT MAY BE. UM, WE’VE HAD VERY GOOD SUCCESS WITH IT AND HEARD A LOT OF GOOD STORIES ABOUT IT. AND WE’RE WE’RE HAPPY THAT WE HAVE IT HERE. HOW CRITICAL WAS THAT FOR YOU ALL TODAY? UH, IT WAS VERY CRITICAL WITH IT BEING SO EARLY. WE WERE MINIMAL STAFFING. SO WE WITH THE BEING ABLE TO HAVE THOSE AUTOMATED AUTOMATED ALERTS GO OUT. WE DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE SOMEBODY DEDICATED TO A COMPUTER TO SEND THAT OUT. SO IT WAS, UH, VERY, VERY HELPFUL. THE SAME WITH OUR TORNADO SIRENS. THEY’RE AUTOMATED AS WELL. SO WE WE CAN ACTUALLY GO AND HELP THE PEOPLE AND TELL THEM EXACTLY WHERE IT’S AT WITHOUT HAVING TO SIT THERE AND, AND BE BEHIND A COMPUTER PUSHING THOSE NOTIFICATIONS OUT. AND IT’S VERY TIMELY. UM, SO THERE’S, THERE’S NO DELAY, REALLY. WHEN THE TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED, THOSE ALERTS AND THE SIRENS GO OFF IN CHAD RIGHT NOW, WE’RE WATCHING AS THE CLEANUP PROCESS, IT CONTINUES. AND REALLY STARTS UP THERE IN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY. WE ARE NOT DONE WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER RISK. THEY CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. SO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU ALL ARE GOING TO PREPARE FOR THIS. SO WE ARE ACTIVELY MONITORING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. WE HAVE SOME CALLS WITH THEM LATER THIS AFTERNOON. UM, WE’RE WE’RE ALWAYS PREPARED. OUR STAFF IS ALWAYS READY TO GO. UM, EVEN ON LITTLE SLEEP. WE’LL WE’LL BE THERE TO HELP THE PUBLIC. BUT, UM, WE’RE WE’RE GOING TO PUSH OUT INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC HERE IN A LITTLE BIT ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA. UM, JUST HELPING THEM PREPARE FOR THE FOR TOMORROW’S EVENTS AND THEN WE’LL BE HERE FULL, FULLY STAFFED AND READY TO GO TO HELP ANYBODY THAT NEED