To Whom it May concern,

Preparing makes sense, the possibility that you and your family will experience severe weather while living in Kiowa County is pretty likely.

As we know weather forecasting is a prediction and a storm can pop up at any time as these storms travel they either diminish or intensify. As we witnessed this past weekend in the east end of Kiowa County a severe thunderstorm intensified and wreaked havoc on the Towner community. What started out as a warning of thunderstorms and high winds possibly could reach up to speeds of 70 mph. As the storm hit and moved across our county it did become stronger. There is no documentation to how high the wind speeds reached but they were strong and relentless. The damages in Towner were high but we are so thankful that there were no lives lost, homes destroyed and the community suffered only minimal personal injury.

As we can only move forward and try to be better prepared for this in the future. There is always room for improvement regarding Communication to ensure greater levels of r response and support. If there is an emergency please reach out for help to one of the county departments. First there is always 911, the Kiowa County Sheriff Office, the Kiowa County Fire Departments, the Kiowa County Hospital, the Kiowa County Board of Commissioners and my office the Kiowa County Emergency Management.

So looking to the future we all need to do self preparations. Be ready if disaster happens, Mother Nature has her own agenda and we can not always predict what is going to happen. Heed all warnings, make those calls, ask for help. Every department would rather it be a false alarm rather than have a tragedy on our hands.

We can only assume all is well if there has not been a call or communications for assistance or aid. As I move forward and prepare for the next incident I will have better communications, better plans and be better prepared as I hope each of you will do the same. My contact information is below and you are always welcome to come to my office in the Kiowa County Courthouse for any questions or concerns. I will do my best to help or assist you in any way I can.

Thank You and please be safe.

Kiowa County Emergency Manager

Shellie Engelhardt

1305 Goff St. PO Box 172

Eads, CO 81036

sengelhardtoem@gmail.com

Office # 719-438-2288

Cell # 719-688-0506