Kimrey named county emergency management director

For the last 25 years, Larry Ewing has had to think about the unthinkable. Nuclear war, tornadoes, floods, chemical spills, explosions, fires and how to help people cope with their aftermath have been on Ewing's mind almost everyday. Fortunately, most of these events only occurred in planning or practice. "I've seen a lot of changes," Ewing said Wednesday as he announced his resignation as Vernon County emergency management director during the monthly Vernon County Local Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting. The tornado warnings of the 1970's were a lot different from the specific information the National Weather Service put out before the May 4 tornado outbreak that devastated Stockton and other southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas towns, he said. At 10 a.m., May 4, the National Weather Service had a conference call with all of the area emergency managers urging them not to wait until a watch or warning was issued to alert their storm spotter networks to the high potential for tornadoes that afternoon. There were two more similar conference calls later in the week as storms continued to inundate the area. Ewing also announced that Dennis Kimrey, who represents the Nevada Amateur Radio Club on the LEPC, would be the new county emergency management director and chairman of the emergency planning committee. Vernon County Presiding Commissioner Charlie Johnson said that the county commission appointed Kimrey to the post Wednesday morning. Ewing, who has recently married and moved to the Riverton, Kan. area, said that he plans to spend a lot more time fishing and relaxing. In other business, Ewing told the committee that the State Emergency Management Office would be helping to update Vernon County's Emergency Plan. The $6,000 cost of updating and printing the new plan will be covered by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.