During Friday’s storm, the Kosciusko Communications Center reported receiving 440 emergency calls for service in a one hour period. That was an average of about 7.3 calls per minute and did not include non-emergency lines which were largely not answered while the storm was in progress.

KCC Director David Rosenberry told the Kosciusko County Commissioners this morning that the dispatchers did an excellent job handling the volume of calls and the personal stress that went with it. Commissioners president Bob Conley asked if the call volume was testimony to the effectiveness of the 911 system to which Rosenberry noted, “The 911 system performed very well that day and the dispatchers did a very good job.”

For Friday’s storm, Rosenberry said the majority of 911 calls were for falling trees and power lines. Non-emergency calls from 2 p.m. to midnight total 362. The total number of 911 calls from the storm for the day totaled 627.

In another matter of business during the commissioners meeting, county veteran’s affair officer Rich Maron presented Tom Hughes with the Veteran of the Month award. Hughes was identified as a Purple Heart recipient, a Vietnam veteran who served as a combat medic in the 125th Infantry. Hughes was presented with a plague for the honor.

The next commissioners meeting will be Tuesday, July 17. Meetings begin at 9 a.m. and are held in the upstairs of the county courthouse. Commissioners are Bob Conley, Ron Truex and Brad Jackson.