Weld Dispatchers take more than 2,000 calls on the day of the tornado

Ashley Newt takes calls Tuesday at the Weld County Dispatch Center in Greeley. On the day of the tornado, 16 emergency services dispatchers took more than 2,000 calls.

JULIE LEVY/gtphoto@greeleytribune.com

It began as most days at the Weld County Dispatch Center north of Greeley, dispatchers coming in about 6:30 a.m., morning coffee, morning talk.

It wasn't until about 11:30 that the chaos began.

Susan Johnson, a dispatcher for 22 years, took the first call from a person who saw a tornado pick up a semitrailer and spin it around on the highway near Gilcrest.

"It was a sudden shot of adrenaline," Johnson said this week. They knew a tornado had hit Weld County. "You would start shaking at first, then you just take a deep breath and go to work."

More than 2,000 calls and police dispatches would pour into the center that day, more than any in history, and off-duty dispatchers came in to help. In all, 16 dispatchers were on the lines that day, trying to keep up as hundreds of people called to report everything from a tornado bearing down on their home to nonfunctioning traffic lights in Greeley.

Kelli Erazo, a dispatcher for 11 years, was off that day, picking up her daughter from a day care center in Windsor when she heard there was a tornado on the ground in the Platteville-Gilcrest area. By the time she got her daughter and was heading back to Greeley, she looked south and saw the tornado on the ground.

"I knew dispatch would be a mess with all the calls," Erazo said, "so I just took my daughter along and went to dispatch."

When Erazo first arrived, she helped 31-year veteran Lori Moser, who was trying to keep up with the fire calls. "We'd get 10 calls all at once, and while we were on the lines trying to get to them, more were coming in."

They would answer each call, ask what the emergency was, then prioritize: medical emergencies were at the top of the list, power outages or traffic light malfunctions were put aside to be handled later.

There are times to call Weld County Dispatch and times not to call. Nothing was more evident of that, said Greeley police Sgt. Dave Mathis, than on May 22, the day of the tornado.

Mathis said the dispatchers were overwhelmed with both emergency calls and calls that should have gone to other areas. He provided this list about emergency and non-emergency calls:

* Call 9-1-1 to report medical emergencies, tornado sightings or other emergency situations. Do not call 9-1-1- or Weld County Dispatch for weather conditions or storm information.

* For weather conditions, call the National Weather Service, (303) 494-4221, or on the Internet, www.crh.noaa.gov/bou.

* For road conditions, call (877) 315-7623 or go to cotrip.org.

* For information about donations, or for help with non-emergency situations, call 211.

* If gas or electrical power goes out, call your provider.

"We had to have people stand by sometimes during the calls while we handled others," said 25-year veteran Ron Gies. "Most of the callers understood we were in the middle of a tornado and were extremely busy."

Above each dispatcher's desk are three to five screens, showing from where the calls are originating. In one area of the screens is a small light panel that shows red when calls come in, yellow when they're on hold and green when they're answered. There are about 20 lights, and for hours that Thursday, all the lights were on at the same time.

"We couldn't even call out on our lines because they were all full," Gies said. "The dispatchers had to use their own cell phones to call out."

Law officers who were constantly in contact with the center agreed that the dispatchers performed well.

"Dispatchers have one of the toughest jobs in law enforcement already," said Weld County Sheriff John Cooke. "They have to handle calls from the public and police calls, multi-tasking everything and remaining calm at the same time.

"They did an amazing job."

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Weld Dispatchers take more than 2,000 calls on the day of the tornado

Mike Peters