| Blacksburg Holds Tornado Training Exercise |
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| David Grimes | |
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A tornado struck downtown Blacksburg near the old middle school Wednesday afternoon injuring several. Actually, it was a not a real tornado. In fact, it was a mock disaster training exercise, as the town’s police department, EMS crews, firefighters and other vital town services prepared themselves for an actual emergency.
Shortly after 4 p.m. calls started coming in that a possible tornado had touched down on the east side of South Main Street between Clay and Sunset Street. Police, fire and EMS workers immediately went to work, triaging the most critical, as additional emergency crews continued to arrive on the scene. Workers were also faced with other hazards, which included Haz-Mat issues and contaminated individuals. A command post was also in place with Blacksburg Transit, in which the busses were used to remove some of the less injured, as well as citizens who needed to be evacuated. The Emergency Disaster Plan was also in place at Montgomery Regional Hospital, as many of the injured were transported there. All emergency personnel were called back in, as well as the hospital utilizing all of its resources in case this would have been a real emergency. “We conduct these training exercises every year,” said Lt. Joe Davis of the Blacksburg Police Department. “It gives all of us a chance to work and train together, thus being better prepared if this had been a real emergency.” Click here to see additional photos from this event in our photo gallery, Photos by Larry Middleton.
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Comments (1)
  written by Rick Hyatte, June 26, 2008
I am really unsure of where to post this, but I have been reading some of the stuff here online and find myself a little peeved. I serve on several boards of organizations in the NRV and frankly, without everythingNRV.com, we would have no coverage of our events and annoucements. We get a little blurb now and again in some places, but more often than not I see Larry Middleton out taking photos of events here in the NRV and then they are posted here. I also understand, on the sly, that a new NRVToday.com is about launch in several weeks. It is always interesting sitting at the next table from Mr. Walton at lunch. People forget that Walton brought community coverage with him when he came to the NRV. Prior to that, the radio was out of Roanoke. Take your shots if you will, but we get our little events covered at everythingNRV.com.
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