It has been a quiet summer in terms of severe weather in Guthrie County, which means the county’s new Emergency Notification System hasn’t had much opportunity to operate.

Despite its small amount of use, Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf says the system stood up to the task of alerting local residents during last Thursday’s severe thunderstorm that swept through the county.

“It performed very well.  It worked just fine.  The new system is all based off of your 911 address, so if you’re 911 address that you enter for your home address is not inside the area (of the severe storm), you will not receive a call.  So, the system is working just as it should, probably the one thing is we need to get more people signed up.”

Kempf says that the new system went into action at 2:38 in the afternoon during the severe storm, and sent out 208 phone calls, 64 emails and 64 texts in under two minutes.  The old notification system used to have problems with bugginess and glitches, but Kempf hopes the new system’s efficiency and quickness in relaying information will be a draw for more local residents to sign up.

Kempf adds that no structural damage has been reported to this point as a result of Thursday’s storm.  He also reminds residents of Guthrie County to contact Emergency Management via email at gcema@hotmail.com or by phone at 641-332-3030 to report large hail, damaging winds or flooding during future severe storms.