2025 Episode 6: Learn Life saving Inclement Weather Safety Precaution Tips with Jefferson County EMA Director Jim Coker

Summertime is in full swing, but not without a few thunderstorms and severe weather to cool us off in between. During this episode of Jefferson County's Podcast for the People, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director, Jim Coker emphasizes the crucial importance of weather safety tips and precautions, dispels common weather safety myths, and best practices citizens should take heed to do when lightning is near.

For any questions you may have regarding weather safety or concerns, be sure to email emainfo@jccal.org. Also, log on to jeffcoema.org for critical information such as shelter information, etc.

Have an idea for a County podcast? Contact the Director of Public Information, Helen Hays at haysh@jccal.org

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:16

Jefferson County Podcast for the people. I'm your host, Chiara Morrow, in the Jefferson County Public Information Office. Today we have a very special guest, Director of Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Jim Coker. Welcome, Jim. How are you doing today?

Speaker 0:35

Good morning. We are doing very well today.

Speaker 1 0:40

Awesome, awesome. We have you on the show to just talk about a few things going on. Number one, weather safety. There's so much going on this month and over the past few months, not only on a local scale, but on a national scale as it relates to weather safety, hazardous conditions, and navigating those types of things. Today we want to talk about a few of those safety tips, commonly asked questions, and anything that you'd like to let the citizens know that they can be aware of during tumultuous times. So, but first, a little bit about you. You've been in this position for a little bit over 11 years, is that correct?

Speaker 1:20

Coming up on 11 years.

Speaker 1 1:21

Coming up, okay, coming up on 11 years. But you've been working largely with Jefferson County and other mayors within Jefferson County. Tell us a little bit about that structure, if you will. Just kind of touch on that for us.

Speaker 1:35

I'm very happy to. The Jefferson County EMA serves not only unincorporated Jefferson County, the county itself, but every jurisdiction within the county. So we serve every city and town all across the county. And the variety of these cities and towns, I quite often will compare these to when you go to an ice cream shop. Because everybody likes going to an ice cream shop. Every flavor is different. And that describes in a nutshell what our cities are like here. Every flavor to us means every community has something special about it, about it. They have things that make their communities very attractive. And they may have challenges also that uh we can work with them to overcome.

Speaker 1 2:22

Awesome. And speaking of that, Jefferson County has a phenomenal track record of helping other counties. It's you know, tell us a little bit about how that happens. They have sort of a neighborly responsibility, and you've been a part of that. Tell us more.

Speaker 2:39

Jefferson County, uh, we're centrally placed, and we are very, very well blessed with assets, um, especially at the county level. They can be sent to assist other counties and other communities. And we have a track record here in Alabama, especially in central Alabama, of cities and counties being hit with tornadoes. Uh two that come to mind are Dallas County, Selma, and Tallapoosa County, both of which were hit by tornadoes uh a couple of years ago. So Jefferson County, the the county commission was able to send a lot of our local assets to help these other counties that were in need. And a lot of this is roads and transportation, so our public works assets. But when you need roads opened up, when you need debris moved so your community can begin to recover, our folks are absolutely phenomenal at doing that.

Speaker 1 3:32

That is amazing, and I think it it goes to just even more appreciation for members like you that's a part of the establishment to just give our sincere gratitude in this moment because if it were not for you, we wouldn't have the alerts and the precautions and everything that we need to protect ourselves during hazardous conditions. So, first, thank you, number one, for all that you do and for all that you're continuing to do to help everyone remain safe during this time.

Speaker 4:04

And I'm very glad you brought that up. Um, because in Alabama, as we all know, because we live here, weather is not something that just goes away or turns off. Right. We are always facing some kind of weather challenge in Alabama. This week's happens to be very high temperatures, so we are looking at heat indexes this week, uh, well over 100 degrees. So when we have that, uh we have a lot of concerns for our residents. Um, how do they stay cool and what kind of medical issues might they have, especially for our senior citizens?

Speaker 1 4:34

Absolutely.

Speaker 4:34

One thing that we ask, especially for these heat challenges, is check on your neighbors, check on your family, make sure that they're doing okay and make sure that they have no needs. Because heat can be very, very impactful to a lot of people. Another thing this time of year, uh, if you look at the Gulf, you may have noticed that uh the National Hurricane Center is eyeing, which could be a disturbance later on this week.

Speaker 1 5:01

Yes.

Speaker 5:02

And does Jefferson County ever have impacts? Yes, we do. Uh if there's a tropical system that impacts the coast and the Gulf, uh along several different states, quite often tropical moisture and wind can track through here. It's been years ago, but actually Hurricane Opal came through Jefferson County as a category one hurricane still. So one thing that we have to keep an eye on if we have tropical moisture is excessive rainfall, which can lead to primarily street weather. Another thing I would like to address this time of year is lightning risk.

Speaker 1 5:38

Very important. I don't think many people think about lightning risk. Tell us more, yeah.

Speaker 5:42

Summer thunderstorms, as we know, can pop up very quickly. And lightning can actually strike as far out as ten or so miles away from a storm. So if as the weather service says here, uh if you're thunder roar, get indoors. And that is for your safety. We have an outstanding relationship with the National Weather Service here in the Birmingham area. Uh we know them all personally and we share information, which leads me into another point, um, not only lightning safety, but just weather safety in general. We want you to have multiple ways to get weather alerts and weather warnings because it's all about your safety.

Speaker 2 6:16

Right.

Speaker 6:17

So do not depend on any one method. Uh as we saw out in Texas, they had some cell phone failures, self-service failures. So, what other ways can you get weather information? In Jefferson County, we use a we call it different tools in your weather toolbox.

Speaker 2 6:32

Okay.

Speaker 6:33

So uh have several of these available to yourself. Cell phone apps are great. I think all of our local television stations have an app. Uh, there are other apps out there that are phenomenal. Weather radios have been around for a very long time and they are extremely reliable. Uh Jefferson County EMA, we have alert systems that you can sign up for on our website because we push information when there are threatened conditions. We do operate outdoor warning sirens across the county. We never want that to be your very first line of defense. But they can be a tool in your weather toolbox. And the reason I say that is because if you're indoors, you may not hear one.

unknown 7:18

Right.

Speaker 7:18

Storms can be very loud, so if it's a loud storm, you may not hear a siren outside of the hill.

Speaker 1 7:24

That's correct. I want to touch a little bit about that EMA. So Jefferson County EMA has an app that everyone can get.

Speaker 7:33

If you look at our website, in the middle of our website, our website is jeffco ema.org. You will find information on how to sign up to get alerts. And you will also find a lot of other good information, like where's my closest storm shelter?

Speaker 2 7:52

Right.

Speaker 7:53

When we think about tornadoes, we think about where do I go to remain safe. So the county has had a very energetic program over the last several years of building new community storm centers or community storm shelters across the county. And when these are complete, we add them to the map list. We don't open the shelters, we don't operate the shelters, but the jurisdictions that do let us know when the shelters are open. And on the map they'll actually turn from red to green. So they go from close to open. So you can put your address in and find out what is your closest shelter.

Speaker 2 8:30

Okay.

Speaker 8:31

Now, here's a key point on that. The time that you want to do that is not when the tornado warning has been issued.

Speaker 1 8:38

Ah, very important.

Speaker 8:40

You want to know that information ahead of time.

Speaker 1 8:43

Ahead of time. Okay.

Speaker 8:44

When we look back to 2021 and what happened with the city of Fultondale, the tornado that hit Fultondale was a nighttime tornado, which is one of our biggest fears because people are asleep.

Speaker 2 8:55

Right.

Speaker 8:56

And if you're asleep, you may not hear warnings, you may not hear different things. And that particular tornado, the time from when it was first seen on radar until the time it was on the ground doing significant damage was about eight minutes. That is not a lot of time when you're waking up and you have to make potentially life-saving decisions. So we are urging everyone to go ahead and plan and make your decisions ahead of time and share these with your family and friends.

Speaker 1 9:24

Okay.

Speaker 9:25

Because they need to do the same thing.

Speaker 1 9:27

Right.

Speaker 9:28

Time is that's one of our best defenses, but sometimes we don't have a lot of time because we live in Alabama.

Speaker 1 9:36

I understand. And that's great that you mentioned that, but other resources that you mentioned earlier too, like the radio, I think people have gotten away from the tried and true radio. And I say that because a lot of times our TVs, most of us who have satellite, that goes out. So we're relying on watching television. The radio is the staple that will likely always be operating if we have a battery-operated radio. So I think those types of simple resources in place help us to know what's coming up, how to stay proactive, and how to be prepared more so. So that's definitely some good things to touch on. Anything else regarding things that we may overlook?

Speaker 10:19

Don't overlook, don't ever overlook communications with your friends and your neighbors and your family.

Speaker 1 10:25

That's good.

Speaker 10:26

Because that serves two purposes. One, you're taking on them and they're taking on you, and you or them may know something that you don't know. You're sharing information.

Speaker 1 10:38

That's good. That goes into that neighborly responsibility, right?

Speaker 10:42

It is. And the other part of this too is as you plan, we don't all stay in our house twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We're very mobile. We go to the store, we go to church, we go to school, we go to activities. So what's your plan if you are not at home, if you're somewhere else?

Speaker 2 11:01

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 11:01

Because we don't want you caught on a highway in the middle of severe weather. So what's your plan when you're at some other location?

Speaker 1 11:10

That's a good thing to have, and I think having a plan in place, everyone should have their action plan. Um, we have a neighbor who told us that they don't have a um bottom basement. So during times where the weather is tumultuous, they want to come over and get in our basement. Well, now we know the plan that when it starts getting bad out, we need to look for them to come and everyone needs to hunker down in the basement, the lowest part of the home, so that we can all be protected.

Speaker 11:40

Well, that is a good part of the plan, right there.

Speaker 1 11:42

Absolutely.

Speaker 11:43

Another thing that most people are aware of now, but uh some may still not be, is tornado warnings are issued as polygons.

unknown 11:50

Okay.

Speaker 11:51

So they're no longer issued countywide. So if you hear a an outdoor warning siren, that means you are in the polygon.

Speaker 1 12:00

So explain a polygon. What what is that actually? That means that you're you're right in the center of it.

Speaker 12:08

Uh you're somewhere in the polygon. Okay. The storms can move a little bit here and there.

Speaker 1 12:13

Okay.

Speaker 12:14

Uh, but the polygons are issued by the National Weather Service.

Speaker 1 12:16

I gotcha.

Speaker 12:17

And when they issue a threat polygon, a warning polygon, that sets off a lot of different things.

Speaker 2 12:23

Okay.

Speaker 12:24

One, it does uh activate our emergency alert system that we operate. That's what triggers phone apps, it's what triggers the outdoor warning sirens. But the polygon is no longer the entire county.

Speaker 2 12:35

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 12:36

Because technology is getting better and better every year. So they can narrow down the areas that could be impacted by these storms. And uh even we've seen over the last two weeks, even severe thunderstorms, they issue polygon warnings for those.

Speaker 2 12:50

Okay.

Speaker 12:50

So an example would be if you live in the south part of the county and you are in a polygon for a severe thunderstorm or a tornado, that would impact you. If you live in Warrior, that same storm is not going to suddenly turn and come north. So you are not impacted by that.

Speaker 2 13:08

Okay.

Speaker 13:09

So if you get a warning from any source, you really need to take heed to it because you are in a warning polygon of some kind.

Speaker 1 13:20

That is equally important. Any other myths you want to dispel as it relates to weather safety, some common misconceptions that maybe people have that just simply aren't true or need more clarity behind?

Speaker 13:36

I'd like to revisit Lightning again for a minute.

Speaker 1 13:39

Okay.

Speaker 13:39

Uh you know, lightning can strike twice in the same place. If you look at the Empire State Building in New York, for example, it gets hit all the time. Um, it can strike twice in the same place.

Speaker 2 13:51

Okay.

Speaker 13:52

If you're out boating, if you're outside, any kind of outdoor activity, uh, you want to move to a safe place, an indoor building, something that will help protect you or your vehicle is another option.

Speaker 1 14:04

So it is true that water attracts lightning. Is that true?

Speaker 14:09

Um sometimes when you're on water, if you're on a boat, um, you might be the tallest thing on that lake.

Speaker 2 14:16

Okay.

Speaker 14:18

And so if you're the tallest thing on the lake, in fact, we saw over the last week in Alabama um a couple of instances where boats were hit by lightning or something similar has happened. So lightning safety, uh, and and one old myth, and I remember hearing this growing up, was about heat lightning. There is no such thing as heat lightning.

Speaker 2 14:41

Okay.

Speaker 14:43

Um when you hear that, or when you see the heat lightning, you're just too far away to hear the thunder.

Speaker 1 14:48

Okay.

Speaker 14:48

It's still it's still lightning.

Speaker 1 14:51

Lightning is its own category.

Speaker 14:53

Lightning is lightning.

Speaker 1 14:54

Right. It's no categories of it. It's all bad.

Speaker 14:57

Um yeah, my own house has been hit by lightning. And luckily we did not have a fire. But can it happen here? Yes, it has. And yes, it can.

Speaker 1 15:07

And there are couples I've learned of that uh have um experienced that around the state of Alabama being hit by lightning. And it's something that we never think to kind of zone in on, but any, you know, precautions we can do is to just kind of be in the lowest part of the house uh again when those types of things happen. What what are some real protections?

Speaker 15:28

Lightning is not so much the lowest part of your house. Okay. Um, you know, in my house, uh, I was down here at the office working, and I called my wife and told her, you know, we've got a very severe thunderstorm that's uh heading your way, and within 30 seconds, some trees near my house were hit.

Speaker 1 15:44

Ah, okay.

Speaker 15:45

And the lightning jumped from the trees to the house, and again, we didn't have a fire, but um it only takes seconds to do a lot of damage to your house.

Speaker 1 15:56

That's important for people to know. So, as much as we can stay prepared, we definitely want to continue to emphasize that any other commonly asked questions or concerns that citizens may have had that you would like to address on a wider scale, just to let everyone know, um, real-time answers.

Speaker 16:18

One thing, ask us. We'll be glad to find answers for it.

Speaker 1 16:21

Okay.

Speaker 16:22

And one ease one easy way to do that is to email us at emainfo at jccal.org.

unknown 16:31

Okay.

Speaker 16:31

And that is an email address that we all check many times a day. So if you have a question, email us and we will find an answer for you.

Speaker 1 16:39

That's good. I will definitely have this information for citizens to see within the context of this podcast because they don't know what they don't know. And so the more we emphasize this direct contact, that is that is great for them to have as a resource. Any other things?

Speaker 16:55

Uh I guess one maybe final thing for this portion of the podcast would be tornado season. And where we live, tornado season is 12 months a year.

Speaker 1 17:06

Yes.

Speaker 17:08

You know, growing up I remember thinking about the spring tornado season, and then we have a spring and a fall tornado season, and then from landfalling tropical systems, we've had tornadoes that were generated from those that have hit us here in this county. So our tornado season is 12 months a year.

Speaker 1 17:29

Wow. That's important to know because I know we're getting ready to come up on hurricane season in September, and a lot of people wouldn't think that we would be affected. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? How it's just as important for us to stay aware of hurricane season, even though some of us may not be as close to the Gulf or to the coast as we um all over the state of Alabama. What's the importance of different seasons like hurricane season?

Speaker 17:59

We're in hurricane season, and we now have um, as I said earlier, the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center is eyeing an area along the Gulf, which could impact Alabama, South Alabama this weekend.

Speaker 2 18:11

Okay.

Speaker 18:11

Um don't know how much it'll develop, but uh little remained to be seen. So I grew up in Mobile, I grew up in South Alabama.

Speaker 2 18:21

Okay.

Speaker 18:22

Hurricane season, in fact, I still have some hurricane tracking charts that my dad had when I was a little kid. And I remember as a very small child when Hurricane Camille came ashore. And my grandparents lived in New Orleans, so we were very, very focused on hurricane season. So how does that impact us here? We're two hundred and fifty miles inland, roughly from the coast. But we can get wind, we can get a lot of rain, torrential downpours, and with that can come street flooding. And we can also get an influx of people here who are seeking shelter from other areas. We saw that during hurricane.

Speaker 2 19:04

Hurricane Center, correct.

Speaker 19:08

So if you have a hurricane in the Gulf, uh it can very much impact Jefferson County here. Well, this may not still be a hurricane by the time it gets here, but we can still have still have the impact.

Speaker 1 19:19

You'll still have the impact, and I think that's what needs to be emphasized. Like you may not have that be in the direct eye of it, but the impact can be longer lasting and can spread a lot farther than where it originally originated. So I think we've covered some great ground here today. Any anything involving safety tips is always the best measure for keeping citizens safe. Is there anything else that we may not have covered that you'd like to talk about in this segment? And let me just say we're gonna have you on a lot more frequent to just talk about different things as you are comfortable with um and that citizens need to know. Anything else that m we may have needed to touch on today that we didn't cover?

Speaker 20:03

A couple of things. One, our staff is working for everyone who lives here in Jefferson County. Our staff is working for everyone who visits here in Jefferson County, who drives through in Jefferson County. That's their job.

Speaker 2 20:15

Right.

Speaker 20:15

And they're all very, very dedicated, and they are propelled to do a good job for all of these people because it's not just the people that live here, because we have many other people that come in from surrounding counties to go to work every day. And we hear their voices. We take this very seriously.

Speaker 1 20:31

That's good.

Speaker 20:32

That's so visit our website again. Uh, we have a lot of good information for you.

Speaker 2 20:37

Okay.

Speaker 20:38

And one of our goals always is to be a good neighbor to our surrounding counties because we do have a lot of people who are very mobile. They come here to work, they come here to go to school, they come here to shop, and we work with all of them.

Speaker 1 20:52

Well, you all have done an excellent job with the neighborly responsibility that your track record is impeccable for reaching out and making sure that no stone is unturned. So we certainly just want to consistently express our gratitude. So that website again is Jeffcoema.org. Jeffcoema.org. Log on here for the latest information with your weather updates, especially on a local level and as it relates to your region. Jim Coker, thank you so much for joining us today. You've given a tremendous amount of information that we're gonna continue to have resonated with the citizens. And any questions that we have in the interim that citizens want answered, we'll certainly have you back on to address those. And even if we don't have those questions, we're gonna have you back on to continue to give updates and things that we should know going into different seasons of the year. Because I think we have to continue to express is remaining proactive during hazardous weather conditions, and you emphasize just that. So we can't thank you enough. For your time and for joining us today. And we appreciate everything you all do. If there are any other questions that citizens have, please let us know in the comments. Please follow up with us and we'll be happy to connect you to our resources. Jim, it's been a pleasure, and we certainly appreciate you for joining us today. What this is Jefferson County's Podcast for the People. We'll see you next time.