Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Written by: Office of Strategic Communication

National Weather Service officials have recognized the University of Iowa as StormReady®.

The StormReady program is a grassroots effort designed to help communities and universities establish severe-weather safety plans and actively promote weather awareness. StormReady communities and universities have made a strong commitment to implement the infrastructure and systems needed to save lives and protect property when severe weather strikes.

“This is about being proactive in planning for and responding to weather situations that pose a threat to the campus community,” says UI Emergency Management Coordinator Floyd Johnson. “This process has enabled us to provide members of our community with the tools and information they need to stay abreast of the dynamic weather conditions that we face in Iowa.”

The nationwide preparedness program was founded in 1999. Today, more than 2,200 StormReady communities and universities throughout the nation help citizens become better prepared for severe weather.

“The University of Iowa has developed a severe-weather strategy that is both practical and proactive,” says Donna Dubberke, warning coordination meteorologist with National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in the Quad Cities. “This StormReady designation recognizes their efforts and also acknowledges their growing role as a strong partner during severe weather events.”

To be recognized as StormReady, a university must:

  • Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
  • Have redundant ways to receive severe-weather warnings and to alert the public;
  • Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;
  • Promote the importance of public readiness through community education;
  • Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

The StormReady program is part of the National Weather Service’s working partnership with the International Association of Emergency Managers and the National Emergency Management Association.

The UI also recently became the first university in Iowa, and the second in the Big 10, to be recognized by the National Weather Service Lightning Safety Program.

Rich Kinney, senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities presented the UI with a certificate during a ceremony on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016.