Friday, March 29, 2024

Southlake Renews StormReady Designation

Storm Ready SignAs the City and the Country enters severe weather season for 2014, all of us have already been reminded that severe weather can strike any place at anytime. To mitigate the impact of severe weather, the City of Southlake has reaffirmed its commitment to being a prepared and resilient community by renewing its status as a StormReady Community.

StormReady is a federal program through the National Weather Service that forms a partnership with local communities. This partnership is the foundation of the StormReady program that ensures not only the City of Southlake is prepared for severe weather, but also that we have worked with the National Weather Service to build a strong partnership. Part of the relationship building process included a tour of the National Weather Service facility in Fort Worth and an invitation to the National Weather Service to view Southlake’s emergency operations center.  In addition to site visits, the National Weather Service will be sharing their expertise on storm spotting with the volunteer groups in Southlake during a special presentation on May 29th.

In order to receive the StormReady designation, the City of Southlake had to meet several requirements that support severe weather preparedness. The National Weather Service reviewed our local warning point function, the emergency operations center, the mechanisms we use to receive severe weather forecasts, the methods we use to alert the public about severe weather, how we provide public outreach to train and prepare for severe weather, and that we account for severe weather in our comprehensive emergency operations plan. 

(Left to right) Ben Williamson, Mark Fox, and Mayor John Terrell at the City Council Meeting on May 6, 2014 when Council formally accepted the StormReady Community renewal.

(Left to right) Ben Williamson, Mark Fox, and Mayor John Terrell at the City Council Meeting on May 6, 2014 when Council formally accepted the StormReady Community renewal.

On Tuesday, May 6th, Mayor John Terrell and the Southlake City Council formally accepted the StormReady Community renewal from Mark Fox, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with National Weather Service. This provided a great opportunity to publicly show the preparedness efforts the City of Southlake maintains for severe weather and the efforts being made to ensure Southlake stays a resilient community.

Should you have any questions about the StormReady designation or if you would like a presentation to a group about personal preparedness, please contact the Southlake Office of Emergency Management at: bwilliamson@ci.southlake.tx.us or 972-781-7273.

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