SHREWSBURY ACHIEVES "STORMREADY" CERTIFICATION
At a meeting held on February 21st, the Shrewsbury Emergency
Management Agency was successful in achieving "StormReady" status for the
town. StormReady, a National Weather Service (NWS) program started
in 1999, provides America's communities with the communication and safety
skills needed to save lives and property before and during a severe weather
event. StormReady helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen
local safety procedures. StormReady provides clear-cut advice and
recommendations to community leaders, emergency managers and media that
would improve their local hazardous weather operations.
The top goal of StormReady is to prepare communities with
an action plan that responds to the threat of all types of severe weather. To
this end, Shrewsbury town officials, and the StormReady Program Local Advisory
Board consisting of three Meteorologists from the NWS and emergency management
officials from FEMA, MEMA and the City of Worcester were guided through
the proposed Shrewsbury program application and Standard Operating Procedure
by SEMA Director Mike Filiere and Deputy Director Jim Arnold. At
the conclusion of the meeting, the StormReady Program Local Advisory Board
unanimously voted to approve Shrewsbury’s application and declared that
Shrewsbury was a "StormReady" community.
Once a community meets the rigorous preparedness criteria
outlined by a partnership between the NWS, and state and local emergency
managers, it will be awarded "StormReady" certification. However,
in order for that to happen, communities must:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
- Have more than one method of receiving severe weather forecasts and warnings
and alerting the public;
- Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;
- Promote the significance of public readiness through community seminars;
- Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe
weather spotters and holding exercises.
On the heels of last month’s deadly, early morning tornado
strikes in Florida, the Shrewsbury program could not have evolved at a
better time. As the public becomes more acquainted with severe storms and
the often-deadly impacts they bring, the only way to save lives is through
preparedness and communication. When the NWS issues a severe weather
warning, the goal of StormReady is to make sure everyone knows about it,
they know what to do, they do it and live. The program goal is to
officially designate at least 20 communities each year for the next five
years as StormReady, because StormReady communities are better prepared
to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through better planning,
education, and awareness. For further information about StormReady,
follow this link: http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/
RADIO RECEIVERS FOR WEATHER WARNINGS
One of the key components of the "StormReady" program is
the ability to receive warnings as soon as they are issued by the NWS. One
of the best ways to do this is with a radio that receives NWS warnings
in real time, or as soon as they are issued. These radios are available
in desktop (base) models and portable models. Nearly all are equipped
with small area message encoding (SAME) capacity. This limits alerts
and warning reception to only those for Worcester County, not the entire
state of Massachusetts. They also access the NWS broadcast weather
forecasts and area reports. Portable models come equipped with a
charging cradle and a belt holster for ease in carrying it outdoors, much
like a cell phone. This is a big advantage; particularly should outdoor
activities be planned on a day when potentially severe weather threatens
our area.
During the recent tornado outbreak in Florida, where an elderly
couple in the path of the storm saved their lives by taking cover after
their radio receiver went off at about 3:30 that morning. They had
time to get out of bed and take cover, protecting themselves from the destruction
that surrounded them as the storm passed over them. While it is true
that Shrewsbury has not been impacted by a tornado since the great 1953 "Worcester
Tornado", 35 confirmed tornadoes have impacted Worcester County since then. We
are not immune from tornado impacts in this area. These radios broadcast
ALL severe weather warnings, not only tornado warnings. Information
on severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards, ice storms,
heat waves and any other severe weather to impact our area. Hopefully
our community will never have to heed a tornado warning, but should we
have to do so again, every second counts. The average lead time for a tornado
warning is about 12 minutes. That is enough time to protect oneself,
but there is little or no margin for error. That is why getting the warnings
as soon as they are issued is so crucial.
These radios are quite inexpensive, ranging from about $20
to $100 or more in price. The Shrewsbury Emergency Management Agency
encourages our residents to consider the purchase of one of these radios. These
units can be purchased on line from a variety if sources or from local
electronics outlets such as Radio Shack. For more information on
NWS weather radios, please follow this link: http://www.weather.gov/nwr/
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