NOAA DECLARES LOGAN, UTAH, STORMREADY

Officials from NOAA's National Weather Service congratulated the emergency management team of Logan, Utah, today for completing a set of rigorous criteria necessary to earn the StormReady distinction.

“StormReady encourages communities to take a proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public awareness," said Kevin Barjenbruch, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service forecast office in Salt Lake City. “StormReady arms communities with improved communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property – before and during the event.”

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 between local National Weather Service forecast offices and state and local emergency managers. StormReady started in 1999 with seven communities in the Tulsa, Okla., area. There now are more than 900 StormReady communities in 49 states.

Larry Dunn, meteorologist-in-charge of the Salt Lake City forecast office, will present a recognition letter and special StormReady signs to city officials at the Logan City Council meeting this evening. The StormReady recognition will remain in effect for three years when the county will go through a renewal process.

“Every year, around 500 Americans lose their lives to severe weather and floods,” said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of NOAA's National Weather Service. “More than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 2,500 floods and 1,000 tornadoes impact the United States annually, and hurricanes are a threat to the Gulf and East Coasts. Potentially deadly weather can affect every person in the country. That’s why NOAA's National Weather Service developed the StormReady program.”

To be recognized as StormReady, a community must:

The City of Logan has already seen the benefits of becoming StormReady. In working toward StormReady recognition last winter, Logan officials incorporated hydrometeorological monitoring equipment into a hazardous weather operations plan. When flooding occurred along the troubled Blacksmith Fork River in spring 2005, the city was prepared.

“We were ahead of the water rather than behind it,” said Will Lusk, safety/environmental health manager for the city of Logan. “While we still suffered some losses, damages were much less than what they could have been.”

“Just like communities, families need to be prepared for hazardous weather by having an action plan,” added Barjenbruch. “Through StormReady, the National Weather Service educates Americans about what to do when severe weather strikes, because it is ultimately everyone’s responsibility to protect themselves.”

The National Weather Service is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and 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 and 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA’s National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov

StormReady program information: http://www.stormready.noaa.gov

National Weather Service in Salt Lake City: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc