(Des Moines, Iowa) – NOAA’s National Weather Service has once again recognized Adair & Guthrie Counties as a StormReady counties. The StormReady program helps community leaders and residents prepare for hazardous weather and flooding. StormReady sites have made a strong commitment to implement plans and resources in an effort to save lives and protect property when severe weather strikes. Chad Hahn, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist says “Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management has taken proactive steps to plan and prepare for weather impacts in an effort to help build a Weather-Ready Nation.”

The nationwide community preparedness program uses a grassroots approach to help communities and organizations develop plans to handle local severe weather and flooding threats. The voluntary program started in 1999. There are now more than 2,350 StormReady communities across the country working to build a Weather-Ready Nation.

To be recognized as StormReady, an organization must:

• Have access to a 24-hour warning point and an emergency operations center;
• Have more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public; Monitor local weather conditions;
• Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars;
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan and hold emergency exercises.

The StormReady recognition will be in effect for four years 2022-2026 then Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management will go through a renewal process. Adair & Guthrie County Emergency Management is also an Ambassador for the Weather-Ready Nation Program. As an Ambassador, the agency along with the National Weather Service is working with its partners to build a Weather-Ready Nation to support community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather.