Inch of Rain fell in OC with Little Damage

An inch of rain fell in Oconee County yesterday reports Official U.S. Weather Observer Barbara Wilson from her weather station at Hickory Hollow Farm in Walhalla. “As of 7am this morning, I had recorded 0.93 inches. I know in some areas it might have been more but here it was heavy and then sparse at times and so that brings us into almost four inches for the month, which is good. Our high yesterday was 56 and our low was 39.” Amounts may differ where you live as other parts of Oconee County experienced heavy rain and wind, tells Oconee County Emergency Services Deputy Chief of Emergency Management and Special Operations Scott Krein. “We had a few downed trees, no major power outages, and just reported a few that were fixed relatively quickly, but anytime we get heavy rain like that sometimes we do have some trees come down and the wind picked up last night. So, that is one of the things that we always have to watch.” As always, Chief Krein encourages everyone to create a 72-hour emergency plan complete with a kit. “One of the things we know we want to prepare for is if we do get cut off during power outages during winter weather and the roads aren’t passable and those kinds of things, we want people to be prepared for a 72-hour period just in case that emergency services can’t get to everyone within the county and that maybe a small need. We’re going to be servicing so many people that the 500 volunteer groups and team members that we have can’t services 85,000 people instantly and it does take time in a bad time, so we want to make sure that they have a kit. Make sure you enough medicine, have enough food supplies and then have a plan for your family. Know where to go if certain things happen and if we have to leave immediately what do we need to take. Be prepared to evacuate your home if you have to or if you are staying in your home what do we need if the heat is off and the power is off, how do we function in that with extra blankets, sweaters and those kinds of things.” Also Chief Krein encourages families to have a weather alert radio in order to stay informed ahead of storms.