Ravenna – The National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Administration has designated Portage County as “StormReady,” a program aimed at preparing cities, counties and towns across the nation with communication and safety tools necessary to save lives and property.
The county earned the recognition based on work by the Portage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to achieve a standard of disaster preparedness set by NOAA and the NWS.
“We have been working toward this goal as one more step to making Portage County resilient and ready for any emergency or disaster that comes our way. All of us contribute to a StormReady Portage County,” said Ryan Shackelford, director of PC HSEMA.
Raelene Campbell, an NWS official with the Cleveland office, presented an official placard, posters and a certificate with the StormReady logo to EMA staff on Thursday at a ceremony in the county Emergency Operations Center. The placard will be displayed in the EOC entrance at the agency facility in Ravenna on Infirmary Road.
“StormReady communities must stay freshly prepared because the designation is valid for only four years and then must be renewed. Portage County is one of 30 counties in Ohio to receive this distinguished honor. Congratulations on a job well done,” Campbell said in her remarks.
A voluntary program created in 1998 by NWS, StormReady provides clear-cut advice to local officials and emergency managers that would improve their local hazardous weather operations.
StormReady uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle all types of extreme weather—from tornadoes to winter storms. To be officially StormReady, a community must:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public - Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally
Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars - Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
For timely information during severe weather or other events please visit the Portage County EMA Facebook and Twitter accounts at Portage Prepares as well as download the Portage County Emergency Management App to your Android or Apple smart phones.
Portage Prepares: https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/portage-prepares
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PortagePrepares
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PortagePrep
Find the Portage County Emergency App at: Google Play and Apple App store.
