TYLER, Texas — A meteorologist at the University of Oklahoma recently went viral after conducting a weather forecast in American Sign Language (ASL).
Mikayla Smith has been signing since she was in 7th grade. When a winter storm was tracking into her coverage area, she created a pre-taped segment catering to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
According to interpreters like Jeremy Norman, the deaf community in East Texas feels ignored.
"The population, the people that live here don't have a voice," Norman said. "Because they're out in the farm, or country, there's not the same mobilization that you would have in Dallas or Fort Worth."
It's only been 10 years since closed captioning has become a requirement, per the FCC, for programming delivered through the internet.
However, in cases like severe weather, providing updates to closed captioning is challenging and the deaf community often miss out on viable information.
“Closed captioning is a good step in communicating with the deaf but what's hard is being able to read what the caption is saying and being able to glance up to see what's happening," said Chris Detkos, president of Tyler Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center (TDHHC).
Alanna Husband, Interpreter and Coordinator with TDHHC, agrees.
"We miss a lot of things happening at the time," Husband said. "It really just makes us feel like we're not connected to what's happening."
This can be dangerous, as Norman explains.
"When hurricanes hit areas, deaf people hunker down," Norman said. "They [emergency personnel] drive through the neighborhood with a loudspeaker yelling evacuate. Well, deaf people can't hear.".
Monthly gatherings are held through the TDHHC and are open to the public.
Teresa Dell is a deaf and hard of hearing specialist for the Health and Human Services Commission. She says the monthly meetings are not only great for socialization, but also useful for sharing important information.
"This is really a significant event for the deaf community," said Dell. "Very often, people in the East Texas area live in smaller, rural communities and so be able to come here to a set time and place to have that kind of connection is wonderful."
She often works with emergency personnel helping them understand how to communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing community.
Community leaders and friends of the tight-knit community say they would like to see more diversity and inclusiveness through partnerships from other groups, people and businesses.
For weather safety and alerts, meteorologists like Smith are learning new ways to communicate with all groups.
Experts are also working to create new devices that can be added to weather radios that will flash a strobe light and vibrate, alerting anyone who may not be able to hear tone alerts.