Fully Prepared

Dickinson becomes a certified StormReady institution, helping the community stay ahead of extreme weather events

When extreme weather is coming, Dickinsonians will be among the first to know and prepare, now that the college has received National Weather Service certification as a StormReady Supporter.

“StormReady certification will make Dickinson more resilient by enhancing our severe-weather protocols and improving our response to a variety of severe-weather events,” says Daniel Berndt, Dickinson’s safety & emergency management specialist. “As a StormReady Supporter, Dickinson publicly declares that we’ve taken the time and energy to improve our preparedness for severe weather across the board.”

Launched by the National Weather Service, the StormReady program is a community-based effort to enhance operational responses to extreme weather through clear and thorough guidelines. As part of certification, an organization must be prepared by taking the following steps:

• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.
• Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public.
• Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally.
• Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars.
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe-weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
  (Source: http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/)

Joining approximately 550 StormReady Supporter sites nationwide, and becoming only the second certified college or university StormReady Supporter site in the state, Dickinson is now part of a growing network of public and private organizations that integrate the principles of the StormReady program into their severe weather safety and awareness plans. 

For Dickinson, the certification makes sense on several levels.

“The commonwealth faces numerous natural hazards each year, including tornadoes, temperature extremes, blizzards and flooding,” says Bernt. “And with countless field trips, athletic events and individuals moving from building to building outside at all times of the year, safety always remains a priority.”

Learn more

• National StormReady Program
• Dickinson's Department of Compliance & Enterprise Risk Management
• Latest News

Published July 20, 2016