By Erica Wright
The Birmingham Times
With the threat of severe weather approaching Wednesday afternoon, City of Birmingham officials today gave an update on preparations and ways to make sure can residents stay safe.
“We are facing a high risk for a severe weather outbreak and we want everybody to know that you need to monitor the weather, stay up to date and have your severe weather plan in place,” said Rick Journey, Director of Communications for the city. “Mayor Randall Woodfin has been monitoring this very closely for several days now and has been in contact with the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency and he has also held meetings with his executive leadership and department heads to secure we have all of our systems in place so that we can respond immediately and be proactive about this.”
Among those updates:
- All ongoing recycling routes have been rescheduled.
- Birmingham Fire and Rescue Services storm shelters will open at noon Wednesday.
- Two streets have been closed: Messer Airport Highway near 32nd Street North and 6th Avenue South near 8th Street south for high flood potential.
“Our personnel are prepared and ready to respond in the event of any weather emergencies, we want to highlight and make sure our citizens know the need to stay safe and stay weather aware,” said Chief Cory Moon, Birmingham Fire and Rescue. “Make sure you have a safe place, identify a place in your homes, go over that plan with your families and if you don’t have to travel during this storm if you don’t have any emergent needs, stay away from the roads and take this storm seriously.”
There is also a plan in place for the city’s homeless population.
“Being that we are in the middle of COVID, there are a lot of protocols and one of the things the shelters are dealing with are those protocols and they can’t do 100 percent occupancy,” said Don Lupo, Operations Manager for the City of Birmingham. “If someone presents themselves at a shelter today and cannot get in, that shelter is being instructed to call us and we will provide transportation for our homeless population to a safe room. The mayor was very concerned this morning about our homeless population so that is one of the services we will perform during the day.”
Community Safe Rooms are located at the following locations:
- Birmingham – Jimmie Hudson Park
305 Pratt Highway
- Birmingham – Pratt City Park
1331 3rd Street
- Birmingham – Smithfield Estates
1707-B Huntington Drive
- Birmingham – South Hampton School
565 Sheridan Road
The city remains in close contact with the Jefferson County EMA and utilities.
In case you or someone you know experiences a power outage, report issues to Alabama Power:
- Report a Power Outage (Customers should use this number.)
1-800-888-2726 - Residential Customer Service
1-800-245-2244 - Business Customer Service
1-888-430-5787
Here are some important points about preparedness:
- Have at least two ways of hearing warnings. Every Alabama home and business needs a NOAA Weather Radio; the model most used is the Midland WR-120, available at most big box retailers. Weather radio receivers do not rely on cellular networks and are very reliable. The second way is your phone; be sure Wireless Emergency Alerts are enabled, and have a reliable app like the ABC 33/40 Weather app, which also pushes warnings. Never rely on an outdoor siren. NEVER.
- Know your safe place. In a site-built home, it is a small room on the lowest floor, near the center of the house, away from windows. In that safe place, have helmets for everyone (this means adults too). We also recommend a portable airhorn for everyone (to alert first responders if you need help), and hard-soled shoes in case you have to walk over a tornado debris field.
- You can’t stay in a mobile home during a tornado warning. Know where you are going and how to get there quickly. If there is no community shelter nearby, go to a business like a gas station, convenience store or restaurant that is open 24/7.
- Be sure you can find your home on a map. Identify the county you are in and the ones surrounding you. Map skill is very important on severe weather days.
For more updates from the city regarding weather, text BHMINFO to 88877.
