Recognize the Friendswood Office of Emergency Management for receiving their National Weather Service (NWS) StormReady designation for the 23rd consecutive year.
Staff Report & Agenda Item Details
The Friendswood Office of Emergency Management is proud to announce their renewal of the National Weather Service (NWS) StormReady designation. A designation they have held since 2003. <br data-pasted="true"><br>Being part of a <a href="https://www.weather.gov/wrn/" target="_blank">Weather-Ready Nation</a> is about preparing for your community's increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events. Americans live in the most severe weather-prone country on Earth. You can make sure your community is <strong>StormReady®.</strong> Some 98 percent of all Presidentially declared disasters are weather-related, leading to around 500 deaths per year and nearly $15 billion in damage. The StormReady program helps arm America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property—before, during and after the event. StormReady helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety programs.<br><br>StormReady communities, counties, Indian nations, universities and colleges, military bases, government sites, commercial enterprises and other groups are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through advanced planning, education and awareness. No community is storm proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives.<br><br>StormReady uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle all types of extreme weather—from tornadoes to winter storms. The program encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations by providing emergency managers with clear-cut guidelines on how to improve their hazardous weather operations. Applying is easy. To be officially StormReady, a community must:<br><ul type="square"><li>Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center</li><li>Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public</li><li>Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally</li><li>Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars</li><li>Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises. </li></ul><br>We would like to recognize the efforts of the entire Office of Emergency Management. Their cumulative efforts enabled the City to earn this achievement.