Family Promise of Lima & Allen County is preparing to open a warming center if needed this winter and is asking the community for donations and support as planning efforts ramp up.
From
To
The Allen County Emergency Management Agency hosted a training exercise to test their response during a simulated emergency.
Lima City Schools finished its first mandatory Emergency Operation Plan Drill at South Science and Technology Magnet School. It's a state-mandated drill that simulates an active shooter situation. The schools work together with the Lima Police, fire department, and Allen County Emergency Management Agency. The school district's director of security says this is, unfortunately, the world we live in, but a good chance to collaborate with the police and fire department and make sure everything runs properly. While the drill was run, the other schools in the district participated by remaining on lockdown.
A call came in about 8:30 Monday morning that there was a suspicious package at Bob Evans on Harding Highway. The Allen County Bomb Squad and Emergency Management Agency were able to survey the package found under a bench on the East side of the building. Traffic on Harding Highway between Interstate-75 and State Route 117 was shut down for close to an hour and a half during the situation.
No tornadoes touched down in Allen County this week but people have had questions about the sirens in Allen County.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing for their annual emergency system test with some changes. FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission will test the Emergency Alert System on Wednesday (8/7/19) at 2:20 in the afternoon. You will hear and see the normal crawl on your TV screen or hear it on the radio. The change to the annual test is it will be broadcast through the National Public Warning System. The reason being is to test the readiness in the event of an internet outage.
The Lima Police Department blocked off an area around East Kibby Street this afternoon for a possible threat.
According to Tom Berger of the Allen County Emergency Management Agency around 1:50 p.m., a call came in about a suspicious package at Meat City. The Allen County Regional Bomb Squad was called in and determined there was no threat from the package. The store was closed for about an hour and a half and is now back up and running.
State and local agencies are continuing to clean up a diesel spill that occurred last week in Lima. According to the Allen County Emergency Management Agency, a semi truck was filling up but drove away and pulled out the nozzle. 815 gallons of diesel spilled out near the Lost Creek Watershed. Crews have been cleaning up in the area around Lost Creek Blvd. Booms were placed in the water to contain the spill. EMA doesn't believe there is any danger to the surrounding community. The spill was contained before reaching the Ottawa River and there's no visible harm to the wildlife.
Residents who live close to Baty Road are now in clean-up mode after strong winds hit their area and caused damage to their property last night. According to the Allen County Emergency Management Agency, the winds hit the area around 8:50 p.m. Residents said the gusts of wind lasted about 15 to 20 seconds, causing the power to temporarily go out. It also damaged trees, roofs, flipped over a camper and tossed around garbage cans. One resident who was watching TV at the time says it didn't cause much damage to his home, but he heard it coming.
With the abundance of rain over the next couple of days, local experts encourage people to be cautious especially while driving on the roads. According to the Allen County Emergency Management Agency, flash flooding is currently on the radar as we move into the weekend.