NOAA Recognizes Douglas County, Ore., as TsunamiReady™ and StormReady®
March 5, 2008
Douglas County, Ore., has completed the NOAA National Weather Service StormReady® and TsunamiReady™ programs, better equipping the county to handle severe weather and tsunamis. The Douglas County emergency management team fulfilled a rigorous set of warning and evacuation criteria, including the development of a formal hazardous weather plan.
"Douglas County is vulnerable to severe weather due to its location on the coast," said John Lovegrove, meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service forecast office in Medford, Ore. “With the Cascadia subduction zone located offshore, tsunamis are always a potential threat to this region. Public awareness and preparedness are essential.”
Lovegrove will present a recognition letter and TsunamiReady™ and StormReady® road signs to county commissioners on Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. during a ceremony at the Douglas County Courthouse, room 216, located at 1036 SE Douglas Street, in Roseburg, Ore.
To be recognized as TsunamiReady™ and StormReady®, a community must:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
- Have more than one way to receive tsunami and severe weather warnings and forecasts to alert the public;
- Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;
- Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars; and
- Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
The TsunamiReady™ and StormReady® recognitions expire in three years, after which the county will go through a renewal process.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
StormReady® and TsunamiReady™ are registered trademarks of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.