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| Skywarn™
and StormReady |
| Skywarn™ involves getting yourself trained to
identify and report severe weather. StormReady goes one step
further, training communities how to prepare for severe
weather. |
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StormReady - Johnson County, AR (08/20/2008) |
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| StormReady
is a nationwide program designed to encourage communities to take a proactive approach to improving
local hazardous weather operations. The goal is to prepare communities for severe
weather so that life and property may be better protected. On August 20,
2008...Johnson County, Arkansas became a StormReady community. |
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A ceremony was held in Clarksville (Johnson County) to celebrate the
StormReady achievement. |
| In the
picture: Josh Johnson (third from right), Johnson County Emergency
Manager, spoke about becoming a StormReady community. Witnessing the
ceremony were (from left) John Hicks, Community Affairs Specialist for U.S. Senator
Blanche L. Lincoln, State Representative John Wells, State Representative George
Overbey, Renee Fair, Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service in Little Rock, and
Johnson County Judge Mike Jacobs. Click to enlarge. |
| Attendees included local and state government
officials, the
Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the National Weather Service in
Little Rock.
To become eligible for StormReady recognition, the following had to
be provided: (1) a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations
center, (2) multiple ways of receiving severe weather information, (3) a
means to monitor weather conditions, (4) the capability to inform citizens
of severe weather, (5) community preparedness/safety talks and (6) written
plans for dealing with severe weather. Johnson County met the StormReady
standards. |
| "Johnson County is
certainly no stranger to severe weather," said John Robinson, Warning Coordination
Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Little Rock. |
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| In the picture:
There were quite a few local and state government officials at the
StormReady ceremony on 08/20/2008. They included Johnson County Judge Mike
Jacobs (front row left), State Representative John Wells (front row second
from left), State Representative George Overbey (front row third from
left), Thorpe Hamilton (front row third from right), Retired Area
Coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM), John
Hicks (front row right), Community Affairs Specialist for U.S. Senator
Blanche L. Lincoln, Rick Kelley (second row left), Area Coordination Branch
Manager for ADEM, Josh Johnson (second row
second from left), Johnson County Emergency Manager, David Maxwell (second
row third from left), Director of ADEM, and members
of the Johnson County Quorum Court. Click to enlarge. |
| "NWS records indicate that the
county has experienced 32 tornadoes since 1950. In addition, since 1980, the county has been
affected by more than 270 severe thunderstorms." |
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www.weather.gov
