Emergency operations warns Independence facing unusually active storm season; urges residents to make plans and sign up for alerts
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Summary
The city’s chief of emergency operations briefed council on staffing, volunteer training hours, and severe-weather preparations, noting high statewide tornado and damaging-wind reports and urging residents to use the Rave alert system and adopt-a-siren program.
Samantha Morris, chief of emergency operations, told the Independence City Council on April 14 that the city’s emergency-preparedness team is focusing on severe-weather readiness amid an unusually active season.
Morris said the emergency-preparedness team currently has two employees and is recruiting to fill two additional positions. Volunteers and leadership have completed thousands of hours of training: Morris said volunteers recorded more than 3,000 hours of training, leadership about 900 hours, and staff donated roughly 1,300 hours to exercises and events over the past 14 months. The division has also been awarded $250,000 in “grama” (as stated during the presentation) and has submitted a final COVID-related reimbursement report to FEMA, which Morris said remains under review.
Morris told the council that Missouri had recorded 55 confirmed tornadoes in 2025 so far, as well as about 3,200 damaging-wind reports and over 1,000 hail reports, and she warned that storm season runs into June. She urged residents to make emergency plans, assemble kits (water, nonperishable food, flashlights, first-aid supplies, prescription medications), and to sign up for Rave, the city’s mass-notification system. The presentation noted that the National Weather Service would no longer be distributing its messaging in languages other than English, and Morris recommended Rave’s multi-language options for residents who need translated warnings.
The department also outlined the city’s outdoor warning system: Independence operates 35 sirens and offers an adopt-a-siren program so residents can confirm proper operation during monthly tests. Morris described volunteer opportunities through the Medical Reserve Corps and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which provide training in search and rescue, communications, logistics, and exercise planning.
Council members commended staff for regional coordination and training efforts and asked staff to continue public education on where to shelter and how to stay informed. Morris said the division would continue outreach and asked the public to adopt a siren or sign up for Rave for better warning coverage.