StormReady Supporter
Certification 2005:
A National Weather Service Preparedness and Response
Project for
How can we better prepare Cooperative Extension to
respond to natural disaster?
- By preparing ourselves and our
families
- By preparing Extension staff/offices
- By building partnerships in counties
StormReady, a National Weather Service program
started in 1999 in Tulsa, OK, helps arm
New Development…
StormReady “Supporter”
Program has been created by NWS for smaller units, such as:
- Hospitals
- Banks
- Companies
- Cooperative Extension
Offices/staff
The criteria to make your
CES office StormReady Supporter certified are in the
areas of:
- Communications
- NWS Info reception
- Hydrometeorological
Monitoring
- Office Warning Dissemination
- Office and Staff Preparedness
- Administration criteria
Communications
criteria :
- Meet with local emergency manager and
extension committee to discuss emergency plans
- Set up an Office warning point
- Operates during office hours
(including during periods such as workshops in off-hours).
- Have warning reception capability
- Offer warning dissemination capability
to office personnel
NWS Info Reception criteria:
-"Office warning points" need
multiple ways to receive NWS warnings.
-
Mandatory: NOAA Weather Radio
- Television: Local network or cable TV
- Local Radio
- Internet, pagers and/or cell phone
notification
Hydrometeorological Monitoring criteria:
- Access to radar data via:
- Internet,
- Local TV,
etc.)
Office Warning Dissemination criteria:
- Once NWS warnings are received, or
local information suggests an imminent
weather threat, the
goal of the “Office warning point” should be to
communicate with as
many of the staff as possible. Get the word to everyone in the office and at special events to
“take cover.”
Office and Staff Preparedness criteria:
- Office staff education is vital in
preparing all personnel in the Extension office to respond properly to weather
threats.
- Attend basic severe weather training
sessions provided by NWS, repeat every
three years.
- NWS 2-hr weather training is set up
thru April
- KY
- Each NWS Office web under Spotter
Training
-
contact local NWS office to sign up for basic training
-
send email to Tom Priddy when completed.
Administration criteria:
- Emergency weather action plan(s) will
need to be in place by working with local emergency manager and local extension
committee.
- "Office warning point"
procedures relating to natural hazards
- Severe weather training records
- Annual exercises relating to natural
hazard
- Procedures for contacting personnel during
off-site workshop/events
Let’s make
For each Extension District…a free SAME
NOAA Weather Radio is available for the first extension office in each
district to complete the 2 hour basic NWS severe weather training.
Contact Tom Priddy for more information at:
or
UK Ag.