He shares a few words of advice for those he has served over the years. Always keep abreast of weather watches and warnings and have an emergency plan in place.

Leon Smith, director, Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency, shared those words with the public as he prepared to step down last week. Smith announced his retirement a few weeks ago and a host of friends, co-workers and family members gathers for his retirement reception in the Cherokee County EMA office last week.

A cake, decorated with a map, a tornado, an emergency response vehicle and other drawings was the center of the refreshment table.

Cherokee County, Smith noted, has had its share of threatening weather over the past few years, Smith noted.

“We’ve had a tornado for the last three years running for which a public disaster was declared for Cherokee County,” said Smith. “And of course the biggest storm that we had was the Palm Sunday tornado in which 22 people lost their lives in Cherokee County. That was a sad day for all of us. We’ve had one hurricane, Opal that left a lot of flooding. We didn’t have a lot of wind damage, but we did have a lot of torrential rain damage in our county.”

Citizens should be forever vigilant when it comes to weather, Smith said.

“The National Weather Service issues watches and they issue warnings,” said Smith. “When there is a watch, be mindful of what is around you, because they can change in a matter of a few minutes. When a warning is issued, that means you should take cover immediately. People just need to heed that and whenever there is any threatening weather; they ought to take the appropriate action. They ought to have a safety plan for their household and each individual.”

As for his retirement, Smith doesn’t believe he will have any trouble staying busy.

“I plan on doing a lot of other things,” said Smith. “I plan to continue to be active in church work. I enjoy that. I’ve done that all of my life, ever since I was a teenager. I will do more of that and also, I have made plans to do a lot of traveling. I have an R.V. and I’m ready to hit the road and see some part of the country.”

Currently, the county commission is drawing up guidelines for hiring Smith’s replacement, he said.

“The county commission has been good to me the 23 years that I’ve worked here and I’ve always received a lot of support from them and always worked in the best interests of the people of Cherokee County,” said Smith.

Beverly Daniel, office manager, will manage the EMA office until someone is hired, Smith said