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Storm Ready

About StormReady (National Weather Service)

The City of Aurora was one of the first municipalities in Illinois to be awarded the “Storm Ready” designation. The top goal of StormReady is to prepare communities with an action plan that responds to the threat of all types of severe weather-from tornadoes to winter emergencies. A voluntary program created in 1998 by the National Weather Service, StormReady provides clear-cut advice to city leaders and emergency managers that would improve their local hazardous weather operations.

Once a community meets preparedness criteria, outlined by a partnership between the National Weather Service and state and local emergency managers, it will be pronounced “Storm Ready”. However, before that happens, communities must:

• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
• Have multiple methods for receiving severe weather information/warnings and for alerting/warning the public
• Create a system that monitors local weather conditions
• Promote the significance of public readiness through community seminars/training
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding exercises

StormReady does not mean Storm Proof

StormReady communities are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through better planning, education and awareness. Communities have fewer fatalities and property damage if they plan before dangerous weather arrives. No community is storm proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives.

Storm Ready website: http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/