Weather warnings include reservoir

An emergency notification service used in Marion County has begun issuing alerts when the Army Corps of Engineers lets water out of the dam at Marion Reservoir.

Randy Frank, Marion County’s emergency management director, said he has been asked if additional information could be included in messages from the county’s Nixle Community Information Service in the aftermath of flooding that destroyed several Marion county homes.

Nixle allows residents who subscribe on the county’s website to receive notices of impending severe weather through e-mail or text messages.

“We will start doing Nixle messages on water releases even if the water releases are not an immediate danger,” he said.

Marion County Emergency Communications dispatchers update Nixle alerts, he said.

Frank said dispatchers receive an administrative message from the Army Corps of Engineers when they raise the gates.

“It’s not a warning or an alert, they just advise us when they let the water out,” he said.