(09-04-03) – The next time severe weather threatens, both Beadle
County, SD and the City of Huron, SD, will be ready for the storm.
Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)
National Weather Service (NWS) announced that Beadle County, SD and the City
of Huron, SD have both been declared to be on the federal agency’s list
of StormReady counties and cities.
"StormReady encourages counties and communities to take a new,
proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public
awareness," said Greg Harmon, Meteorologist-in-charge of NWS - Sioux
Falls. The nationwide community preparedness program uses a grassroots
approach to help communities develop plans to handle local severe weather and
flooding threats.
The program is voluntary, and provides communities with clear-cut advice
from a partnership with the local Weather Service Office, state and local
emergency managers, and the media. StormReady was started in Tulsa, Okla., as
a local effort to educate residents about storm safety. Harmon said the
Weather Service’s goal is to make at least 20 communities StormReady each of
the next five years.
Todd Heitkamp, warning coordination meteorologist at the Sioux Falls, SD,
Weather Service office will present a StormReady recognition letter and
special StormReady signs to Tom Moeding, Beadle county emergency management
director. The signs will be displayed prominently in the city and county.
"Every year, around 500 Americans lose their lives to severe weather
and floods," Todd Heitkamp said. "More than 10,000 thunderstorms,
2,500 floods, 1,000 tornadoes, and 10 hurricanes impact the United States
annually. Potentially deadly weather can impact every person in the country.
That’s why the National Weather Service developed the StormReady
program."
To be certified as StormReady, communities and counties must:
- establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
- have more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts and
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.
"The United States is the most severe weather prone region of the
world," Heitkamp said, "The mission of the National Weather Service
is to reduce the loss of life and property from these storms, and StormReady
will help us create better prepared communities throughout the country."
"Just like counties and communities, families need to be storm ready
by having an action plan for severe weather. Through StormReady, the National
Weather Service plans to educate every American about what to do when severe
weather strikes because it is ultimately each individual’s responsibility to
protect himself or herself. Only you can save your own life. The best warnings
in the world won’t save you if you don’t take action when severe weather
threatens," said Heitkamp.
NOAA’s National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data,
forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. National
Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and
forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and
enhance the national economy. To learn more about the National Weather
Service, please visit www.nws.noaa.gov or www.stormready.noaa.gov.
