HAMILTON COUNTY— Central Indiana residents are acutely aware of the dangers posed by severe weather, as unpredictable storms can wreak havoc in an instant.
Gemi Ozdemir, owner of Ozwell Fitness, experienced this firsthand when an April tornado in Carmel caused $1.6 million in damages to his business.
Ozdemir's concerns extend beyond his business.
“I got a kid at camp right now, so I’m worried about that. Baseball at 5 p.m., volleyball at 6p.m., so I worry about that first,” he shared.
Just a few miles west, Chad Knecht, Executive Director of Hamilton County Emergency Management, leads his team in monitoring the weather and preparing for Wednesday's severe weather.
Knecht operates the Hamilton County Emergency Operations Center, where data on road closures, accidents and weather conditions is closely tracked.
“We can pull CAD runs, monitor road closures, accidents, debris falls, the weather and broadcast that information out to have that shared conscience with all our public safety partners out in the field,” he explained.
The emergency management team focuses on providing real-time information to the public.
Knecht emphasized the importance of being informed about current conditions.
"We want everybody to have as much up-to-date information as we can about the conditions they're driving into, what the road conditions are, and try to give them as much warning to slow down or just pull off and stop until the storms pass and the roads clear, if that's needed.”
On Wednesday, their focus is on the threat of damaging winds and potential flooding across the region.
“Our fields are sitting with water. Our low-lying roads have water in the ditches right next to them, so there's really not a lot of space for the water to go. So if we get another heavy rain event, we’ll have flooding in all of our usual places, plus some places that we’re not accustomed to just because there’s nowhere for the water to run off,” Knecht noted.
Ozdemir and Knecht both stress the importance of staying alert during severe weather events.
“Common sense—don’t be a hero,” Ozdemir advised.
"Be conscious. Listen to the radio. Watch the news. You know, be conscious of what’s going on around you," Knecht added.
