CENTRE — On April 27, 2011, 62 tornadoes chewed their way across Alabama from west to east, leaving hundreds of millions in damage and 248 dead.

As the two-year anniversary of that devastating day draws near, local officials are still applying lessons learned from the twister that injured one, destroyed 27 homes and damaged three dozen more in Cherokee County.

“We do have a long-term recovery committee in place now, for anytime there is a declared disaster,” Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Beverly Daniel told The Post last week. “The County Commission appointed a few folks to the committee to deal with the 2011 storm and it has evolved since then.”

Daniel said funds collected in the spring and summer of 2011 by a group headed by Charles Hincy and others has been set aside to help the committee respond to future storm emergencies in the county.

“We still have some funds left over, not a large amount,” Daniel said. “But it will help us be better prepared for next time. We'll have things on hand and items in place. That was one of the good things that came out of that storm.”

Daniel encouraged everyone in Cherokee County who has not already done so to sign up for Code Red weather alerts. The service is provided free to residents by the Cherokee County Commission.

“We've been promoting Code Red for two years now, doing numerous public information events,” Daniel said. “It's amazing to me that people still ask us what Code Red is.”

The EMA office, located in the rear of the County Administrative Building, has applications for Code Red. Residents can also sign up online at http://goo.gl/7PSBv. The service places an automated call to either a land line or cell phone—or both—whenever a weather warning is issued for the address that accompanies the phone number.

“All that information is kept confidential, and when a warning—either severe thunderstorm, tornado, flood or winter weather—is issued, a recording goes to every phone number,” Daniel said. “It works really well.”

Daniel said at last count, around 4,380 Cherokee County residents have signed up for Code Red.

“People are continuing to sign up daily,” Daniel said. “We'd like to get everyone in the county signed up. It's free. It's a great thing the Commission has done for this county.”

Probate Judge Kirk Day also encouraged residents to sign up for Code Red, which costs the county around $10,000 a year.

“Code Red allows our citizens to receive the timeliest information available about severe weather,” Day said. “I hope everyone takes advantage of the service.”

Daniel said it is important to use Code Red in conjunction with other weather information outlets to stay informed about approaching weather.

“You need to pay attention once you get the Code Red call and find out where the bad weather is,” Daniel said. “Have a backup plan. Don't just depend on one source of information, because they are all going to fail at one time or another.”

Daniel mentioned weather radios as an option, and said her office will be working with a group of local youths this Saturday in Centre to promote weather awareness.

“The Leadership Cherokee students will be at Dean's Pharmacy from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. programming weather radios and signing people up for Code Red,” Daniel said.