LUMBERTON — The National Weather Service gained a few pair of eyes to keep a watch on severe weather in Robeson County, which could be a lifesaver.
A handful of local residents committed Tuesday to becoming Skywarn Spotters for the service during a two-hour Skywarn and Weather Safety training session held at The Robesonian. During the session, trainees were given a lesson on the basics of thunderstorm development, proper safety, common myths and misconceptions, some fundamentals on storm structure, identifying potential severe weather features and determining what and how to report information to the National Weather Service during an event.
Steve Pfaff, warning coordination meteorologist, said the National Weather Service has all the equipment and technology to identify and cover major storms, but needs eyes and ears on the ground.
“The community component is just as important as the technological component, which is why we do this training,” he said.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington is responsible for coverage for six counties in Southeastern North Carolina, including Robeson, and eight counties in northeast South Carolina. Some of the the tasks spotters will be responsible for include measuring hail, snow and rain; estimating wind speeds; and reporting injuries, fatalities and structural damage.
Nicole Ambrose, a safety officer with the Parkton Fire and Rescue, said that she gained good information to take back to the department but it was her interest in weather that brought her to the training.
“I’m just fascinated with the weather,” she said.
Lumberton residents Julie and Frank Kabiri said that their lack of knowledge and preparedness during hurricanes Matthew and Florence is what drew them to the training. The couple said that they moved to Lumberton from California in 2013.
“We have never been in a hurricane before Matthew,” Julie said. “We were never exposed to anything like this.”
They had severe flooding during both hurricanes in their community near Barker Ten Mile Road.
“I think we will be good, excellent spotters cause we want to help the community and we want to help our neighborhood,” Julie said.
Greg Bounds, a retired director for the Robeson County Emergency Management Services, said that he had alsways been fascinated by weather but it was a massive F4 tornado that hit the town Red Springs in 1984 that changed his perspective.
“From that point forward I felt the need to understand weather and prepare for things,” Bounds said.
Bounds already calls in reports to the weather service but it has been six years since his last training.
“I wanted to take it again,” he said.
