Limestone's new weather camera to also help Lawrence, Morgan counties
May 10—ATHENS — The Limestone County Emergency Management Agency is installing a weather camera at Lucy's Marina in unincorporated Limestone County that will have a view across the river that could help other counties as well.
"Most of the time, when we get weather, it comes out of Lawrence County and crosses the river at that point," said Limestone County EMA Director Eddie Gilbert. "We thought it would be a good idea to see anything that comes across the river in our county."
Gilbert said they would be able to see hail, heavy rain, strong winds and tornadoes.
"It will hopefully give us a heads up when there's a violent storm heading into our county," he said. "Anything the camera can pick up, we'll look at it."
The camera will be aimed toward Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Gilbert said, and Lawrence County.
He said all EMAs are able to tap into other EMA cameras, as long as they have Wi-Fi capability.
"If they can see it, it's almost past us. But we might be able to see what's coming right there in the northwestern, Hillsboro part of the county," said Lawrence County EMA Director Chris Waldrep. "Anything that helps to see what's going on (is great). ... Anytime you put another eye in the sky, it's going to help somebody, and it's going to help Limestone County, and I'm very happy there's another one to have access to."
Waldrep said it will be beneficial to see what is going on weather-wise at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.
"We're a Browns Ferry (Nuclear Plant) county as far as evacuations," he said. "That would definitely help to see if anything was going to hit the plant itself."
Waldrep said the camera they have does not have Wi-Fi capability and therefore cannot be shared with other EMAs. He said it is very expensive to replace. However, Waldrep said a couple of years ago, they installed a 60-mile circumference radar which has been extremely helpful.
"They put a radar on top of one of our water towers in Moulton to bridge the gap between all the radars," Waldrep said. "Lawrence County was in a radar gap."
He said they also can tap into the Sheriff's Office's camera.
Morgan County EMA Director Jonathan Warner said although the camera will not be pointed toward Morgan County, it will still be beneficial.
"This is going to benefit Limestone and Lawrence counties the most. It's right where tornadoes go out of Lawrence County and into Limestone County from time to time," he said. "It will benefit us just in the sense that it should be able to see the nuclear plant, and EMAs share cameras."
Warner said they have one camera on top of the Morgan County Courthouse because EMA is in the basement. He said they also tap into the Alabama Department of Transportation's ALGO cameras and Decatur's cameras.
Gilbert said they are currently installing brackets to hold the camera, which should be installed within about a week. Lucy's Marina is located at 609 Bay Village Drive in District 3 of unincorporated Limestone County.
Gilbert said they currently have two other cameras on the EMA building on West Market Street in downtown Athens.
"It's just not a good, clear view because of all the trees," he said. "But the one on the river, it'll have a good, clear view, and anytime lightning strikes or whatever, it should be easy to see if there is a tornado."
Gilbert said the camera is very inexpensive and the funds are coming out of the Limestone County's EMA budget.
"The benefits should outweigh the costs by a landslide," he said.
—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.
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