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You are at: NWS Home » SRH Home » SR News » 2004 » Forecaster Save Family's Lives
Motorist Credits NWS Forecaster With Saving Family's Lives
 While planning a trip to Indiana with her brother and three children, a Birmingham, AL woman called the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office in her city to check the weather along her route. That was May 27th (2004) and it would be the first of three phone calls she would make to Journeyman Forecaster Kristin Hurley. Hurley said the drive north would pose no problem, but cautioned her about the potential for severe weather during her return trip on May 30th.
Three days later, a severe storm system lashed more than a dozen states from Minnesota to Alabama and west to Oklahoma and Texas. The National Weather Service recorded nearly 900 storm reports that day -- including tornadoes, high winds and hail. Some of the heaviest tornadic activity occurred in Indiana and Kentucky and it was that outbreak that prompted the second phone call. Hurley said the woman called on her cell phone while traveling south on Interstate 65, just north of Louisville, KY. She said there were dark clouds ahead.
A quick check of the Louisville Weather Forecast Office web site showed a Tornado Warning had been issued for Jefferson County (Louisville). "I told her she needed to pull off the road and take cover immediately," said Hurley. "I told her 'This is right on top of you! Pull off right now and find a safe place!'" The family took her advice and found shelter in a car wash.
When Hurley received the third phone call, she said, "The woman was crying and saying 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' and said she saw what appeared to be a tornado about a quarter of a mile ahead and added, 'I can see birds getting sucked into the storm along with trash and debris. You saved my life and my brother's and my children's lives'!" In the excitement of the moment, Hurley never got the woman's name.
Downplaying her role in the incident, Hurley insists she was just doing her job. But, somewhere in Birmingham, there are five grateful people who would beg to differ.
However, NWS Southern Region Director Bill Proenza agrees with Hurley. "She was just doing her job, and doing it
very well," he said. "Kristin Hurley's job and the job of everyone else in the National Weather Service is to help
save lives. She is a prime example of the kind of dedicated employees who strive to provide the best possible service to
our citizens. |
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