The National Weather Service held an awards ceremony recently in the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building’s Emergency Operations Center, to recognize the City of Roanoke as having earned “StormReady” Certification.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service developed the StormReady program in 1999 to help communities throughout the United States prepare for severe weather. “StormReady encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public awareness,” said Phil Hysell, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the Blacksburg Office.
Earning StormReady recognition indicates that the City of Roanoke has done everything possible to improve emergency first responder and citizen preparedness in the event of a natural disaster. According to the National Weather Service’s Guidelines, Roanoke’s improved communications infrastructure and increased level of severe weather awareness will minimize the loss of life and/or property in the future.
To be recognized as StormReady, a community must:
• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.
• Have more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts / warnings and to alert the public.
• Create a system that monitors local weather conditions.
• Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars.
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
Participation in the StormReady program is voluntary. Roanoke is one of approximately 1,500 StormReady communities in the country. The StormReady recognition will be in effect for three years, after which the city will go through a renewal process.
For more information, contact Mike Guzo, Emergency Services Coordinator for the City of Roanoke, at 540-853-2426, or Phil Hysell at the National Weather Service, Blacksburg. Office, at 540-552-1613, ext. 2.
