Summers County LEPC making changes to emergency plans
HINTON, WV (WVNS) — Workers with Summers County Office of Emergency Management attended a quarterly Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting last week.
Several changes to emergency plans were discussed.
Construction still on going at Batteau Beach
A county's Local Emergency Planning Committee is a public organization that discusses the emergency plans for the county.
The recent meeting which the Summers County LEPC attended played host to talks about planning for chemical incidents within the county.
Loyd Lowry, Summers County Office of Emergency Management Director, said they discussed a variety of plans based on the various facilities in the county which hold different hazardous materials.
'Well, you know, primarily we have a couple facilities that store large amounts of chlorine. We also have facilities that store a large amount of flammable materials. We have to look at those and make sure that we have planning set up for those responses. We also have a transportation network that involves roads and railroads. We also look at those for possible issues with hazardous materials. Whether it would be spillage, explosions, stuff like that, dangerous breathing conditions for residents,' said Lowry.
Lowry said the changes being made to the plans are in regard to the specific responses for each type of facility.
The plans will go more in depth as to the appropriate response to each different chemical in the county.
He said his office will work with the federal government, local emergency response agencies, and the National Weather Service to ensure the safety of Summers County residents.
He encourages citizens to play an active role in knowing what the emergency plans for their county are.
'The LEPC is a transparent organization. If anybody has questions as to exactly what facilities are in this county, what their locations are, what chemicals they may have on hand, they can reach out to the LEPC committee. We do, once a year, publicly display this information, usually at Railroad Days or another festival where it's easily accessible,' said Lowry.
Planned bridge repairs to cause traffic delays on Duncan Branch Road
Lowry said the regular meetings are open to the public and information on them may be found at the Summers County Courthouse, the Memorial Building, and several other locations in town.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
This Is Going To Be A Buckwild Hurricane Season
Heading into the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, National Weather Service forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are predicting 'above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year.' The season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, is estimated to dish out between 13 and 19 total named storms, with six expected to be hurricanes and three to five of those to be major (category 3 or higher) hurricanes with winds exceeding 111 mph. For the record, NOAA is more often right than wrong, with 70 percent confidence. 'NOAA and the National Weather Service are using the most advanced weather models and cutting-edge hurricane tracking systems to provide Americans with real-time storm forecasts and warnings,' the Administration's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is quoted saying in a late-May press release. 'With these models and forecasting tools, we have never been more prepared for hurricane season,' Lutnick posited. In some sense, that is certainly true. These days, NOAA is equipped to provide a staggering 6.3 billion observations each day, according to WPLG (ABC Miami) hurricane specialist and storm-surge expert Michael Lowry. Despite all the technology and preparation, NOAA's recently (and severely) shortened staff isn't exactly running at full bore, and 24/7 operations are reportedly becoming untenable at many local stations. A recent New York Times op-ed penned by Lowry, titled 'A Hurricane Season Like No Other,' paints a picture of the agency as a husk of its former, pre-DOGE termination of some 800 roles. 'NOAA put out a mayday on May 13 asking remaining staff members to temporarily vacate their posts to salvage what was left of the nation's critical warning network,' Lowry writes. 'Nearly half of local forecast offices are critically understaffed, with a vacancy rate of 20 percent or higher, and several are going dark for part of the day, increasing the risk of weather going undetected and people going unprotected and unwarned,' he adds, citing staff reshuffling as a symptom of the agency's of existential throes. While this all might be, like, a total bummer for our up-to-the-minute surf forecasts this season, it could also be downright deadly for those of us living seaside and in hurricanes' paths. Weather balloons, which, even with the advent of satellites have remained a primary source of hurricane data collection for more than 60 years, are running at reduced rates. Typically launched twice daily from 100 North American, Caribbean, and Pacific sites, 'weather balloons have been shown to markedly improve forecast accuracy, so much so that twice-daily launches are commonly supplemented with up to four launches a day ahead of major hurricane threats,' according to Lowry. They also critically inform 'time-sensitive decisions like evacuation orders.' Meanwhile, nationwide, balloon launches are down between 15 and 20 percent nationwide as we face what will likely be an especially active hurricane season. In some places, skeleton-crew staff at the National Weather Service are so preoccupied with other priorities that weather-balloon flights are suspended altogether. During hurricane private equity toys with the idea of turning public services like weather forecasting into cash cows, it's reported that the National Weather Service—which our tax dollars are still supposedly funding—costs the average American $4 per year. What's your peace of mind worth? Hell, at base level: What's a half-decent, subscription-free surf report worth? When there is no hint of a blueprint, no modicum of a foundation for an alternative weather-forecasting system, administration, and/or agency, is hastily scrapping the one that's in place—and which our very livelihood and lives, let alone recreation depend upon—in anyone's best interest? Could the private sector drum up a service to supplement or perhaps even supplant NOAA and the National Weather Service while doing it better and cheaper, as Project 2025 and its proponents propose? In a perfect world, why not? But then, 'If the private sector could have done it better and cheaper, it would have,' summates Lowry, and the fact of the matter remains: 'it hasn't.' How long do we want to wait? And how long could we have to wait for a reimagined weather service? The first one only took 155 years. Don't hold your breath, though it might not hurt to keep an eye on the Is Going To Be A Buckwild Hurricane Season first appeared on Surfer on Jun 7, 2025
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Yahoo
Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry wait 90 minutes to cap third-round 61 with eagle
AVONDALE, La. – It took 90 minutes longer than it should have, but Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry put themselves in contention to win the Zurich Classic for the second consecutive year. McIlroy said Friday following a disappointing finish to the team's second round that they needed to get to 20 under after Saturday's four-ball session to have any chance of defending their title, and they were two better than that, posting a 61 to move to 22 under and within two shots of the lead. Advertisement 'I feel like we played pretty well today. There was a lot of holes where both of us had chances,' Lowry said. 'We went out and we did what we had to do. We knew we were going to have to go out and shoot a really low score today. There's not much wind out there, and the course is fairly gettable, and in four-balls you want to be shooting at least 10 under.' The round was highlighted by a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole following a 90-minute weather delay. Play was suspended just after McIlroy hit his second shot at the par-5 closing hole from 260 yards to set up the walk-off. 'I wasn't concerned so much because I'd say the first two-thirds of the putt was sort of downhill, so there was never really concern of getting the ball to the hole,' said McIlroy, who is playing for the first time since winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam. 'It was just a matter of picking the right line and just starting it on that. It was sort of quite a comfortable putt, a little bit of left to right early, a bit of right to left at the end, overall not a ton of swing in it. A great way to finish.' It was an even more impressive finish for the Northern Irishman considering the length of the delay. Advertisement 'I think the secret is not thinking about it in those 90 minutes,' McIlroy said. 'We had a bit of lunch and we were watching some highlights from last year and talking about where we're going to go for dinner tonight. The last thing on my mind during the delay was the putt, and then once I got back out there, I sort of concentrated on it and made sure I did what I needed to do and just a bonus for it to go in.' McIlroy and Lowry were two shots behind Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, who had just made the turn when play was halted.
NBC Sports
26-04-2025
- NBC Sports
Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry wait 90 minutes to cap third-round 61 with eagle
AVONDALE, La. – It took 90 minutes longer than it should have, but Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry put themselves in contention to win the Zurich Classic for the second consecutive year. McIlroy said Friday following a disappointing finish to the team's second round that they needed to get to 20 under after Saturday's four-ball session to have any chance of defending their title, and they were two better than that, posting a 61 to move to 22 under and within two shots of the lead. 'I feel like we played pretty well today. There was a lot of holes where both of us had chances,' Lowry said. 'We went out and we did what we had to do. We knew we were going to have to go out and shoot a really low score today. There's not much wind out there, and the course is fairly gettable, and in four-balls you want to be shooting at least 10 under.' The round was highlighted by a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole following a 90-minute weather delay. Play was suspended just after McIlroy hit his second shot at the par-5 closing hole from 260 yards to set up the walk-off. 'I wasn't concerned so much because I'd say the first two-thirds of the putt was sort of downhill, so there was never really concern of getting the ball to the hole,' said McIlroy, who is playing for the first time since winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam. 'It was just a matter of picking the right line and just starting it on that. It was sort of quite a comfortable putt, a little bit of left to right early, a bit of right to left at the end, overall not a ton of swing in it. A great way to finish.' It was an even more impressive finish for the Northern Irishman considering the length of the delay. 'I think the secret is not thinking about it in those 90 minutes,' McIlroy said. 'We had a bit of lunch and we were watching some highlights from last year and talking about where we're going to go for dinner tonight. The last thing on my mind during the delay was the putt, and then once I got back out there, I sort of concentrated on it and made sure I did what I needed to do and just a bonus for it to go in.' McIlroy and Lowry were two shots behind Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, who had just made the turn when play was halted.
