LIZTON — Multiple rounds of severe weather rolled through central Indiana this week, fittingly during Severe Weather Preparedness Week, underscoring for emergency officials the importance of hyper-local weather alerts.
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Despite the best preparation, sometimes severe weather can still catch Hoosiers off guard.
On Thursday, Jeff Musselman was out clearing trees from his mom's yard in Lizton. Storms rolled through Hendricks County early Wednesday morning.
"My mom called me yesterday morning, just kind of in a panic," Musselman said while taking a brief pause from his work. "She wasn't really aware that it was going on until it was already kind of over. She got in the car and actually came down the driveway. The driveway was totally blocked."
The driveway, which Musselman stood in on Thursday, was still covered with pieces of fallen trees. There were several fallen trees scattered across the property.
It wasn't an isolated incident, as many neighbors nearby also had fallen trees or roof damage.
"When you get that call, you don't think it's that big a deal, but then when you come see it, it's kind of amazing," Musselman recalled of once he finally arrived at his mom's house.
The severe weather was not something Musselman or his mom expected this week.
"It catches people off guard. I don't think you really think about it until it happens to you, unfortunately," Musselman said.
The combination of Severe Weather Preparedness Week and actual severe weather has kept the National Weather Service in Indianapolis busy.
"That's what we're here for," said Meteorologist Joseph Nield with the National Weather Service. "Our entire mission comes down to really one phrase, 'Protection of life and property.'"
Nield continued that his office was glad they ran through the Statewide Tornado Drill on Tuesday morning, as it prepared people for severe weather Tuesday evening into Wednesday.
"The more you practice those plans, when seconds matter to save lives, that's how it happens, because you're able to put those plans into place and into action immediately," said Nield.
The National Weather Service works closely with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
The State Emergency Operations Center is located in the Indiana Government Center. Here, state officials coordinate with county emergency management agencies.
"We are very fortunate in Indiana to have emergency management directors at the local level, agencies at the local level, that are well trained, well equipped, and have the right personnel to be able to handle these situations largely at the local level without state assistance," said Jonathan Whitham, Executive Director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
However, the state is standing by when local agencies need help.
"They start to request resources from the state, and that's when we really get involved," Whitham said.
This week, many of those requests have come from northwest Indiana.
"We've had quite a few requests for assistance with debris removal," Whitham shared. "Power restoration efforts, crews to help with clearing roadways."
The state sent an incident management team to Newton County and also received assistance from the Indiana State Police.
Indiana Department of Homeland Security uses a system called the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) to push hyper-local alerts during emergencies.
"You can select a very small portion of the map, and if we need to push a message out to just devices in that specific area, we can do that," Whitham shared.
Why are these alerts, based on your exact location, important?
"The less your cell phone goes off, the more you'll pay attention," said Whitham.
While some counties still send alerts or sound outdoor warning sirens county-wide during severe weather, others are starting to use this hyper-local approach to limit the number of alerts you receive.
"One of our goals over the next 12 months is to try to get every county on that system," Whitham said.
The mission is clear: to make sure Hoosiers are prepared before the next storm hits.
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