New storm sensors will help provide real time warnings in Mobile County, Alabama. The network of five sensors is designed to help emergency management officials and weather forecasters handle evacuations of residents in areas where hurricanes may approach.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have deployed the cutting edge sensors, which will be located above the water on places such as bridges. This will allow them to safe in storms. They will be able to relay information about the weather directly to residents in their homes via their computers. They are solar powered and would survive a Category 5 storm surge.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be paying $600,000 in a grant for these sensors. The grant was funded by Congress with the help of U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner. The data that the sensors provide will be archived and be available for formulating computer models to forecast storms in the future.
The early warning system will also allow residents to know if they need to evacuate their homes in case they are in for a bad storm. Mobile County Commissioner Mike Dean said that the technology trumped everything that was out there.
Mobile County spokeswoman Nancy Johnson said sensors are being installed at Dog River, East Fowl River, West Fowl River, Bayou La Batre and Chickasabogue Park. The sensors were to be caliberated before they were ready to be used and that would take a couple of months.