The command center for keeping you safe during severe weather

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - It’s Severe Weather Awareness Week and when severe weather strikes, there is a command center for the agencies that come together to help keep the public safe.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Emergency Management Center serves as a hub to facilitate government operations in times of emergency or disaster. There, agencies like the Lincoln Police Department, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities can be in one central location. In the same location, storm trackers to monitor where the severe weather is headed can be found.

During a level one emergency activation, James Davidsaver, director of LLCEMC, sends an alert to all the agencies to come to the center. The last time a level one emergency was activated was the grassfires in October of 2022.

“It’s that collective effort, everybody’s expertise is complimentary to the other,” Davidsaver said. “By bringing the subject matter experts physically together in one space giving them the resources that they need hopefully allows us to manage an emergency or a potential disaster as effectively as possible.”

One way people you can keep yourself safe is by having a plan incase of severe weather for wherever you are.

“A good place to start is to have a simple plan if you’re at home if you’re at work, school or out and about and severe weather threatens have a plan to seek suitable shelter sooner rather than later,” Davidsaver said.

The statewide tornado safety drill will take place Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. CDT.

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