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| Written by Robin Hixson | |||
| Wednesday, 01 April 2009 08:00 | |||
 As nearly 100 people filed into the storm spotters training session at Paola Middle School on Thursday night, a group of Osawatomie women clustered near the front of the auditorium.Apple Bus Co. manager Patty Fouts said she and her team of school bus drivers had come to learn how to recognize severe weather situations and to fulfill a company requirement. “We have to have a safety meeting every month, so this month we came here for our meeting,” Fouts said. But each of the women in the group had her own motivation, as well. “I would be here even if it wasn’t for the bus company,” said school bus driver Debra Ratley. Ratley said she’s always been interested in learning about weather, but several experiences — such as the Osawatomie flood two years ago — prompted her to take advantage of the training session offered that evening by Miami County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service. Apple Bus co-worker Kathy Wright said she hoped to add to her knowledge base as a way to help keep her young charges safe while transporting them to and from school. “I’m not here to be a storm spotter, but I do need to know what to look for when I’m out there in that bus,” Wright said. Bus driver Marilyn Rayfield said learning what causes severe weather is interesting, but being able to help alert others to danger is more important. “It’s good to come in and learn this, being a bus driver, because you learn what to look for and you can call it in,” Rayfield said. When Derek Deroche of the National Weather Service began his talk, he used a PowerPoint presentation to teach the audience how to identify various severe weather formations, how to stay safe in the field and how to relay what they’ve spotted to weather professionals in their areas. Every participant received a copy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Basic Spotters’ Field Guide to use as a reference. Additional copies can be obtained via the NOAA Web site at www.nws.noaa.gov. Following the presentation, a number of audience members went forward to register as Community Weather Involvement Program spotters. Vicky Barker, Lee’s Summit, Mo., said she was glad to learn more about the weather phenomena that had always intrigued her. “I’ve been wanting to do it all my life. I used to stand on the porch with my grandpa and watch the storms.”
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