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After the storm that dropped a tornado in Hyde rolled through Sunday night, I sat awake in bed listening to the Grant County Public Safety scanner on Broadcastify.com. I could have listened all night to the crackling voices of emergency personnel as they worked together to survey lands, remove downed trees from roads and safely locate residents.
After about an hour, the excitement of the storm wore off and my eyes began to droop. I turned off the scanner but knew these voices would be communicating all night, into the morning, and some into the next day.
At around 11:00 a.m. on Monday, I spoke with Joe Thomas, fire chief of the Ridgeway Fire Department. His crew had just returned to the fire station after a long night of searching and surveying. Though exhausted, Joe and his crew stayed until they knew everyone was safe and felt comfortable leaving the scene.
I spoke with Keith Hurlbert of Iowa County Emergency Management Tuesday morning while arrangements were being made to fly Governor Walker in to survey the storm damage on County Highway ZZ. He greeted me with a smile and had a large cup of coffee in hand. I've met with him enough times to know how serious he is about emergency management and making sure residents are safe and able to rebuild.
I wanted to take a moment to thank all the fire departments and their fire fighters, EMS and ambulance crews, Iowa County Emergency Management and all the hands that will help rebuild our communities after disaster strikes unexpectedly. We couldn't do it without you guys.