By Florence Rankin

flo.rankin@gaflnews.com



ASHBURN – A radio transmitter built in Turner County to fill a seven-county “dead space” for weather transmissions is up and running.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) transmitter will make it possible for residents of Tift, Turner, Ben Hill, Crisp, Irwin, Wilcox and Worth counties to receive severe weather announcements from the NOAA network. Some of the counties could not receive the warnings at all before the transmitter was installed and others had trouble receiving transmissions.

“We’re not perfect, but oftentimes we can give you a warning and get these alerts to you,” said Bob Goree, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “But if you don’t hear it, it doesn’t do any good.

“I am sure that this will save lives in this area.”

Goree, Georgia Emergency Management Agency Director Gary McConnell, state Sen. Rooney Bowen and other dignitaries gathered in Ashburn Monday to mark the transmitter’s installation. The transmitter is the last in a series of 19 built across Georgia by GEMA and the NWS in response to a recommendation by the Governor’s Task Force on Warning and Communication.

The task force, formed after tornadoes ripped through northeast Georgia in 1998, set expanded coverage and upgrade of the NWS broadcast network in Georgia as a top priority.

“We are extremely excited about this new transmitter since it represents the final installation in our expansion project,” said McConnell. “Now Georgians with NOAA weather radios will have access to vital weather information in areas that for many years did not have coverage.”

Tift County EMA Director Faye Duckworth said the EMA often had problems receiving transmissions from Pelham, the nearest location before the new transmitter was installed.

“It will really improve our warning capability,” Duckworth said.

Officials considered locating the transmitter in Tift County but could not find a site for it, said Duckworth. A plan to add it to Tift County’s 911 tower didn’t work out because the frequencies were too close together.

“I’m just glad it’s in this area,” she said. The Tift County EMA office has already distributed about 90 NOAA radios to schools, nursing homes, factories and other places where people gather, with plans to place 40 more.

The transmitter is located in western Turner County on Hill Road. Its broadcast can be heard on radio frequency 162.450 MHz.



To contact city editor Florence Rankin, call 382-4321, ext. 209.