Some weather radios inoperable amid severe storms in Kentucky. How to stay updated
As a second round of severe weather is expected to hit Kentucky, the central region will not have access to a common alert system used by the National Weather Service.
Emergency updates normally issued over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather radios will be offline Tuesday night for scheduled upgrades.
The National Weather Service in Louisville is conducting upgrades to their weather radio system that began Monday. Radios are expected to be back online Thursday, according to NWS meteorologist Samantha Wilson.
This temporary outage only affects Central Kentucky, Wilson said. The system is still operable for Western and Eastern Kentucky.
Wilson said the weather radios are only one tool residents can use to stay safe, and always encourages people to use more than one way to stay informed about inclement weather.
Individuals can download the FEMA app, a free app that gets weather alerts from the federal emergency system, Wilson said.
People can also receive Wireless Emergency Alerts, which emit a loud blare from smart phones during weather emergencies. As long as the phone is on, and notifications for the alerts are turned on in a user’s phone settings, they will receive the alert.
Governor Andy Beshear advised Kentuckians make sure their phones are on and charged ahead of severe weather Tuesday, which is expected to begin in Western Kentucky around 2 p.m. and creep across the state into the late evening.
“My suggestion to everyone out there is to be weather aware,” Beshear said at a Tuesday press conference. “Know when it is going to hit your community and give it couple of hours on each side.”
Beshear said to watch in real-time weather updates from local meteorologists.
“Make sure that, if you can, you stay up until it’s over because we think this (storm system) will be out by 11 p.m. or midnight,” he said.
