Indianapolis (Wish) — With a growing Spanish-speaking population in central Indiana, the National Weather Service in Indianapolis is pushing to get more information in Spanish.
According to the US Census, Indiana is home to over 400,000 Hispanics, and Spanish is the second most spoken language in the state.
Sam Lashley, a warning and coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, told News 8 on Tuesday:
The Indianapolis National Weather Service wants to share life-saving information with all communities. “It’s a work in progress because it’s new. We’re experimenting to understand this process,” he says.
They focus on posting in Spanish on social media such as Facebook. They rely on at least two staff members to get it done.
Mr Lashley said: ”
Lashley said he will post the Spanish translation after the English message.
He said they face some challenges.
“Right now it’s limited to these larger storms where the population is at risk and, as you know, Indiana hasn’t seen much winter weather here in the last three or four years, so We can always have that information, it will be useful and it will keep people safe,” Lashley said.
The weather service also said it faced racist remarks on Facebook due to posts in Spanish.
Lashley said: We are trying to reach as many people as possible. We are looking at a diverse community again. If you are in Central Indiana, you are a citizen. You are visiting, you are transiting, we want you to be safe and understand our information.
The agency said it plans to reach out to local organizations to expand its activities.
