Harrison County Earns StormReady Designation; West Virginia's Seventeenth StormReady County

Left to right: NWS Charleston Warning Coordination Meteorologist Tony Edwards, Harrison County Office of Emergency Management Director Pegi Bailey, Harrison County Commissioner David Hinkle

Harrison County was designated as the 17th StormReady County in West Virginia at a ceremony during the Harrison County Commission Meeting on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022.

The StormReady program is designed to help protect citizens from the dangers of all types of severe weather by arming America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property before, during and after a hazardous weather event. Harrison County Office of Emergency Management Director Pegi Bailey worked with officials from the National Weather Service in Charleston to complete the designation process.

"Harrison County already met most of the requirements to be StormReady when Director Bailey and I began the process," said Tony Edwards, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston. "I commend Director Bailey and the Harrison County Commission for their previous accomplishments and putting the effort and resources into making the citizens of Harrison County even more prepared for future hazardous weather events."

In order to earn the StormReady designation, a county must:

Establish a 24-hour warning point and Emergency Operations Center
Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and redundant methods of alerting the public
Monitor weather conditions locally
Promote the importance of public readiness by sharing weather preparedness information in the community
Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

School safety during hazardous weather events is another priority and Director Bailey oversaw the purchase and installation of NOAA Weather Radios in all public schools in the county. The NOAA Weather Radios are programmed to alert for severe weather warnings adding a layer of redundancy to ensure that school officials are aware when dangerous weather such as severe thunderstorms or tornadoes approach.

A SKYWARN Weather Spotter class was also held in the community. Weather spotters are the eyes and ears of the National Weather Service in their community, relaying reports of hazardous weather and learning weather safety tips during the training process.

For more information about StormReady, and other National Weather Service weather safety programs, please visit www.weather.gov/rlx/partnerships.