Storm Ready

Flash Flooding Risk Continues in Texas; Wildfire Smoke Impacts in the East

Widespread, life-threatening considerable flash flooding is expected in south-central Texas through at least Friday. Catastrophic river flooding and rapid rises on small streams, arroyos, and typically dry washes are expected in the Texas Hill Country. Wildfire smoke is impacting air quality across much of the Great Lakes region into the Northeast U.S. with Air Quality Alerts in effect. Read More >

StormReady Program

StormReady is a nationwide program which began in the summer of 2000. It is a
voluntary program designed to help counties and communities take a proactive approach to the kinds of severe weather that affect their areas by improving local hazardous weather operations and heightening public awareness. Counties work with the National Weather Service, State Emergency Management, and the media to become StormReady. By participating in this program, local agencies can earn recognition for their jurisdiction by meeting the guidelines established by the NWS in partnership with federal, state, and local emergency management professionals.

Some of the things the StormReady program is intended to do are:

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 a 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

Now, just because a county is recognized as being StormReady, it doesn’t mean that is StormProof. Mother nature will still unleash her fury at times but what is important is the fact that your county and communities can have the best preparedness program possible to deal with such severe weather events.