By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

THE National Emergency Management Agency said weather alerts were issued in a timely fashion but they are working to improve ways to get the message across.

Trevor Basden, senior deputy director at the Meteorology Department, said yesterday: “We were tracking the system from early in the morning and we did send in a timely manner the severe weather statements.”

And those statements were continued throughout the night, he said.

NEMA director Captain Stephen Russell said NEMA would look at “investing” in social media and work to have other channels, aside from government-owned ZNS, broadcast emergency weather statements.

“Because you know persons just don’t watch ZNS they watch other channels,” he said. “We’ve been doing it in the past, we have now stepped that up to ensure no matter what channel they’re watching or which radio station they’re listening to, there’s an interruption now to get the message across. We would like to improve on that.

“These things are becoming more frequent now - you have the tornadoes and other things and we have to be able to deal with them a bit better.”