(Photo: Webster County Emergency Management/Facebook)
Webster County Emergency Management announced Monday that the county has achieved StormReady certification, marking a significant step in enhancing the county’s preparedness for severe weather events.
StormReady is a nationwide, voluntary program aimed at helping counties and communities proactively address severe weather challenges by enhancing local hazardous weather operations and increasing public awareness. Officials stated that counties collaborate with the National Weather Service, Kentucky Emergency Management, and the media to achieve StormReady status. By participating in this program, they said local agencies can gain recognition for their jurisdiction by meeting the guidelines set by the National Weather Service in collaboration with federal, state, and local emergency management professionals.
Officials from Webster County Emergency Management outlined several objectives of the StormReady program, which include:
– Improve the timeliness and effectiveness of hazardous weather warnings for the public.
– Provide detailed and clear recommendations by which local emergency managers may establish and improve effective hazardous weather operations.
– Help local emergency managers justify costs and purchases related to supporting their hazardous weather-related program.
– Reward local hazardous weather mitigation programs that have achieved the desired performance level.
– Provide a means of acquiring additional Community Rating System points
assigned by the Insurance Services Organization.
– Provide an “image incentive” to counties that can identify themselves as being Strom Ready
