Traffic Cameras Poised To Do Double Duty During Severe Weather In Macomb County
MACOMB COUNTY (WWJ) - "A dream come true."
That's how Macomb County emergency responders describe the capabilities of COMTEC, their recently opened Communications and Technology Center, which was the site of a severe weather simulation Thursday.
Traffic cameras throughout the county were used to track a pair of helicopters in flight, simulating incoming tornadoes.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel spoke to WWJ's Jon Hewett about the using the technology to multitask.
"We only started off with about 70 cameras and now we are up to 200 cameras and by the end of, I think it's, next year we're going to have over 300 - pretty much every major intersection in Macomb County is going to have a camera for the purpose of traffic control -- and so now everyone of those cameras at every intersection can possibly be used if and when somebody sees something in this county that is believed to be a tornado," said Hackel.
He says the emergency system now operational in Macomb County now rivals any in the nation.