NOAA’S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TEAMS WITH 2007 IDITAROD
Mushers Will Race Through Alaska’s New StormReady Communities

Alaska’s 2007 Iditarod, often called “The Last Great Race on Earth,” will be a showcase for four newly designated StormReady® communities, a distinction given by NOAA’s National Weather Service to communities that have completed rigorous warning and evacuation criteria to keep people out of harm’s way. With a ceremonial kick-off Saturday, at 10:00 AM in Anchorage, the more than 1,150-mile race gets underway Sunday, at 2:00 PM in Willow, about 60 miles north of Anchorage.

“Nowhere is there more concern about weather safety than in Alaska where people live in vulnerable coastal communities and face particular ravages of nature, including flooding, coastal erosion, blizzards, severe storms and bitter cold,” said Jeffrey Osiensky, warning coordination meteorologist for NOAA’s National Weather Service Alaska region. “StormReady arms communities with improved communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property, both before and during an event.”

For the first time, mushers will race through four trail communities carrying the StormReady distinction. Nine Alaskan communities are StormReady, and four of these have earned the TsunamiReady® distinctions. Eight more are expected to earn similar distinctions by the end of the year. The four newly designated StormReady communities along this year’s Iditarod trail are Anchorage, Wasilla, McGrath, and Nome.

Across the nation, there are more than 1,100 StormReady sites in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and 39 TsunamiReady sites in nine states, Puerto Rico and Guam.

“Every year, around 500 Americans lose their lives to severe weather and floods,” said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of NOAA's National Weather Service. “More than 10,000 thunderstorms, 2,500 floods and 1,000 tornadoes affect 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. StormReady and TsunamiReady programs were developed for this reason.”

The nationwide community preparedness program helps communities develop plans to handle local severe weather and flooding threats. The program is voluntary and based on a partnership between local NOAA National Weather Service forecast offices and state and local emergency managers. StormReady began in 1999 with seven communities in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. To be recognized as being StormReady and/or TsunamiReady, a community must:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA 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 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

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

NOAA’s National Weather Service in Alaska: http://pafg.arh.noaa.gov

NOAA’s StormReady program: http://www.stormready.noaa.gov

NOAA’s TsunamiReady program: http://www.tsunamiready.noaa.gov

StormReady® and TsunamiReady® are registered trademark of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

StormReady and/or TsunamiReady communities in Alaska include:

Homer - StormReady/TsunamiReady

Kodiak - StormReady/TsunamiReady

Sitka - StormReady/TsunamiReady

Seward – StormReady/TsunamiReady

Anchorage – StormReady

Nome - StormReady

Wasilla – StormReady

Juneau – StormReady

McGrath - StormReady