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Free storm safety devices from Bibb County EMA hopes to get more people prepared for severe weather

The EMA distributed about 100 storm safety devices to members of the community at the Elaine H. Lucas Senior Center.

MACON, Ga. — The Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is helping the community get prepared for storm and hurricane season. 

On Wednesday, they distributed about 100 storm safety devices to members of the community at the Elaine H. Lucas Senior Center

Overall, nearly a thousand weather radios and a hundred pillow shakers and light combo packs are set to be distributed to the community.

“It's extremely important that you have a plan,” said Spencer Hawkins, EMA Director of Emergency Management. “This is our opportunity to get these emergency alert devices in the hands of our citizens”

Hawkins expressed the importance of timeliness and everything that goes into preparing for storm and hurricane season.

“Get prepared and stay prepared," Hawkins said. "We are making sure that the community understands that hurricanes, tornadoes and severe weather are a threat to our community, and they need to take the time now to prepare.”

And with that, Hawkins took time to demonstrate how both the weather radio and the pillow shaker with lights worked.

"If you're hard of hearing, you're not going to hear the alert and you're not going to see the strobe lights but you will feel the vibration," Hawkins said. "The pillow shaker will vibrate you so that you will wake up, see the strobe lights going off and then you can go and get emergency alert information." 

April Jackson, who works for the Bibb County Juvenile Justice Center, came in around noon to pick up some kits for her family.

“It pretty much will give you a heads-up that way you can prepare yourself at least to have some type of coverage before things really turn bad,” Jackson said. 

She also mentioned how it's best to be prepared ahead of time and familiarize yourself with the resources beforehand. 

“People said that if they didn’t have these devices, they pretty much would be in trouble," Jackson said. "If they didn’t get a warning ahead of time because sometimes the power will go out, the phone goes dead you don’t have electricity to plug your phone up, so with things ran by batteries it helps a lot.”

Although you would have to sign-up ahead of time to receive the storm safety devices, the Macon-Bibb Emergency Management Agency will be holding its 2nd Annual Emergency Preparedness Fair on Sept. 23 and it is completely free to the public.

 

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