NEWS BRIEFS
Central Texas weather & travel
To prepare for tornado season, area experts recommend safety plan
BY ANA GARZA & KAITLYN WILKES
tornado watch is when all the ingredients are pres- ent for a tornado to form, and a tornado warning means there have been tornados spotted and you need to get inside immediately. Registering for emergency warnings online can help residents get updates in addition to watching news broadcasts and keeping up with social media. Austinites can sign up on www.warncentraltexas.org, a free emergency system that connects local officials to communities tomaintain contact during disasters and public safety events. Ana Garza and Kaitlyn Wilkes are reporting fellows for a Community Impact Newspaper and University of Texas at Austin partnership with a focus our growing and diverse neighborhoods. The project is supported by the School of Journalism and Media’s Dallas Morning News Innovation Endowment.
STAYING SAFE The National Weather Service and Texas Severe Storms Association offer tips based on where residents may be located in the event of a tornado touching down nearby.
When a rare strong tornado touched down in Round Rock and the surrounding area March 21, many residents may have been unprepared about what safety measures to take. Troy Kimmel, chief meteorologist for KOKE FM and senior lecturer at The University of Texas, said he believes tornado season for Austin is year round. Jennifer Olohan is the public information and marketing program manager for Austin’s Com- munity Preparedness Programs. Both Kimmel and Olohan suggest residents sign up for weather notifications on their mobile devices and take tornado watch and warning alerts seriously. Kevin Sheth, the president of the climate and meteorology society at UT, described the differ- ence between a tornado watch and warning: A
In a home: If you are in a tornado warning, go to a basement, a safe room or an interior room away from windows. Grab pets if time allows. In a vehicle: Abandon vehicle. Seek safety in a substantial structure or designated tornado shelter. In a high-rise or apartment building: Seek shelter in the smallest or most interior rooms or hallways, avoiding exterior walls and windows. Outside: Seek shelter inside a sturdy building immediately.
SOURCE: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND TEXAS SEVERE STORMS ASSOCIATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
ABIAworking to address traffic, TSA backupswith record travelers forecast
by the end of 2022. With air travel continuing its pandemic bounce back, around 20 million passengers are expected to pass through ABIA gates this year—a 15% jump from the previous record set in 2019. For passengers heading directly to the main terminal, ABIA officials said drivers and passengers should use either the arrival or departure level, depending on congestion levels. The airport is also advising travelers to budget extra time ahead of flights. “To help manage expectations and prepare passengers for a bus- ier-than-ever [ABIA], the airport recommends that travelers only bringing carry-on luggage arrive at least two hours before their boarding time for domestic flights and three hours before their boarding time for international flights,” officials said in a statement.
FLIGHT CHECK-IN TIPS
Travelers without checked luggage can skip the airline ticket counters and head immediately to security screening checkpoints using the following check-in options:
BY BEN THOMPSON
that saw nearly 9,000 passengers March 27 and more than 8,200 passengers March 28 pass through ABIA gates before 8 a.m. alone. The airport experienced backups at rental car return lines and Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and also issued a fuel shortage alert asking airlines to fly into Austin with extra jet fuel. While the airport said its fuel shortage did not affect any flights or customers this week, the issue could come into play more often as passenger counts jump. The steady stream of busy travel days is putting the airport in position to shatter its single-year travel record
Days after high travel volume backed up its traffic and security screening lines, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials said passengers will continue to face frequent congestion. “Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expects more busy days ahead for airline passengers ... The airport expects these trends to continue regularly on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. The busiest time is early in the morning, before 8 a.m.,” the airport said in a March 30 statement. ABIA officials released the opera- tional update following a weekend
Use either arrival or departure areas for drop-off
Use self-service flight check- in kiosks to print boarding passes and bag tags Check in for flights using the airline’s mobile app and a mobile boarding pass
Use curbside check-in with select airlines
SOURCE: AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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