On October 18th, we screened Decoding the Weather Machine as a part of our evening film series. And despite having to postpone the film by a week because Hurricane Michael had slammed through our town, flooding the roads, and making it impossible for some people to drive, we had a great turnout with several people there to talk with National Weather Service (Blacksburg) Chief Meteorologist, Dave Wert.
We were pleased and honored to have him there to give us his thoughts on the film as well as his insights into what he sees happening in the future. A fantastic speaker and presenter, he fielded questions from several of our concerned Floydians, many of whom are still recovering from both Hurricane Florence and Michael.
What he sees in the future is new and more sophisticated modeling systems that can give more accurate forecasts that will have us able to make plans in advance for evacuating, traveling, and preparing the home for ice, wind, rain, or heat.
When asked about what we can do to “adapt” or “mitigate” climate change, he emphatically said that it does come down to the individual. “Everyone can do something.” He complimented SustainFloyd’s Personal Climate Pledge and took a Pledge home himself.
If we can all band together to reduce, reuse, and recycle while taking care of the environment at the same time, we can all try to slow the change that is here and is still coming.