SMETHPORT (EC) — The director of the county emergency services has lauded dispatchers at the emergency communications center in Smethport for their work during the severe weather that passed through the county on May 1.

In a letter to the county commissioners that Chairman Al Pingie read at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting, Director of Emergency Services Andrew Johnson said, “Occasionally, a dispatcher’s job during a particular event rise above the expected norm and exceed the mere job description in a fashion that deserves special praise and commendation. The storms of May 1 and the actions taken by the staff here are certainly among those rare instances.”

On that day, the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and a Tornado Watch for McKean County, which was soon upgraded to a Tornado Warning. At 4 p.m., the center began receiving calls for assistance as the storm moved into the county. “Over the next hour, 144 calls for assistance were received, processed and dispatched,” Johnson said. “This was perhaps the busiest single hour our center has ever experienced. During the entire storm period, a total of 456 calls were handled, each with the same compassion and calm professionalism that we have come to expect from our dispatchers.”

Besides Johnson, working in the communications center during this time were Craig Simons, Nathan Burgett, Zachary Holt, James Heffner, Joel Gilfert, Gerard Rettger and Andrew Eliason.

“The teamwork displayed by this group of dispatchers is a model for their peers and is to be applauded,” Johnson stated. “I cannot adequately express how profoundly proud I am of Craig, Nate, Zach, Jimmie, Joel, Gerry and Andy for not just these incidents, but the regularity with which the rise to any occasion and show themselves to be valuable assets to the public safety community in McKean County.”