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Welcome
to the National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan Forecast
Office StormReady Page.
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StormReady Information:
Designated StormReady Communities (in South Central
and Southeast Wisconsin)
Overview of StormReady Program
Program Intentions
Recognition Process
Local StormReady Manual & Documents (including
community certification criteria and forms)
Wisconsin StormReady Advisory (WSRA) Board Members
Wisconsin State StormReady Focal Point
National StormReady
Page
Designated StormReady Communities:
Current listing of "StormReady" Communities in the Milwaukee/Sullivan
County Warning and Forecast Area (Your Community could be listed
here! Contact your local County Emergency Manager Director for further
information).
StormReady Communities
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Pending (working toward designation):
- Dousman, Waukesha Co.
- Greenfield, Milwaukee Co.
- Brookfield, Waukesha Co.
- La Valle, Sauk Co.
- Racine County
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Overview of
StormReady Program:
"StormReady"
is a new national voluntary program, administered through your local
National Weather Service office, that gives communities the skills
and education needed to cope with and manage potential weather-related
disasters, before and during the event. The program encourages communities
to take a new pro-active approach. This nationwide preparedness
program uses a grassroots effort to help communities develop plans
to improve local hazardous weather operations and public awareness
for all types of local severe weather threats. In other words, StormReady
is aimed at arming America's communities with the communication
and safety skills necessary to save lives and property.
Many laws and
regulations have been created to help local emergency managers deal
with hazardous material spills, search and rescue operations, medical
crises, etc., but there are relatively few uniformly-recognized
standards dealing with the specifics of hazardous weather response
operations. Recognizing this need, the National Weather Service
has designed the StormReady program to help communities or counties
implement procedures to reduce the potential for disastrous, weather-related,
consequences. By participating in StormReady, local agencies can
earn recognition for their jurisdiction by meeting criteria established
by the National Weather Service in partnership with federal, state,
and local emergency management professionals.
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The "StormReady" program does not replace any of the various federally or state-funded harzard
mitigation programs, rather, it compliments them.
Together, they offer a community the means to anticipate and survive
severe weather. The entire community - from the mayor, emergency
managers, to business leaders and civic groups - can take the lead
on becoming StormReady. The Milwaukee/Sullivan Weather Service Forecast
office will work with communities to complete an application and
review process.
StormReady
is a voluntary program, and is being offered as a means of providing
guidance and incentive to officials interested in improving their
respective hazardous weather operations. Implied or explicit references
to "requirements" are made with regard to the voluntary participants
in the StormReady program and should not be construed as being state
or federal mandates.
It's paramount
for communities to understand the types of weather-related threats
in the area, when they are most likely to occur, and prepare in
advance for severe weather events. Under the auspices of StormReady,
the Milwaukee/Sullivan National Weather Service Office will continue
to help the citizens of South-central and Southeast Wisconsin understand
the dangers posed by these weather events. Education and communication
are a very big part of the StormReady program.
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South-central and Southeast Wisconsin have felt the wrath of numerous,
violent, severe weather outbreaks: the F5 Oakfield tornado on July
18, 1996, the F5 Barneveld tornado on June 8, 1984, the 100-128
mph May 31, 1998 straight-line thunderstorm windstorm during the
pre-dawn hours, the 90-110 mph August 6, 2000, Rock County straight-line
thunderstorm windstorm, and major flash floods in Sauk, Green, Sheboygan,
Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Kenosha counties. People
were killed in these events, and hundreds were injured. Property
damages, collectively, were in the hundreds of millions. The same
thing can happen again, even in your community. Will your community
be ready for the next severe storm? Will community and emergency
response officials, and local residents know that severe storms
are imminent? Will your community be "StormReady"?
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StormReady
Program Intentions:
- Provide detailed
and clear recommendations by which local emergency managers may
establish/improve effective hazardous weather operations.
- Strengthen
a community's ability to receive and use severe weather watches
and warnings from the National Weather Service.
- Improve the
timeliness and effectiveness of hazardous weather warnings for
the public.
- Help local
emergency managers justify costs and purchases related to supporting
their hazardous weather-related program.
- Reward local
hazardous-weather mitigation programs that have achieved a desired
performance level.
- Provide a
means of acquiring additional Community Rating System points assigned
by the Insurance Services Organization (ISO).
- Provide an
"image incentive" to counties, cities, and towns that can identify
themselves being "StormReady"
- Encourage
the enhancement of hazardous weather preparedness programs in
jurisdictions surrounding "StormReady" Communities and Counties.
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StormReady Recognition Process:
An advisory
board (Wisconsin StormReady Advisory Board -WSRA), comprised of
National Weather Service personnel and state, regional, and county
emergency managers, will review applications from all Wisconsin
communities and visit the locations to verify the steps made in
the process to become StormReady. These communities must stay freshly
prepared, because the designation is only valid for two years.
Local
StormReady Manual:
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The Wisconsin StormReady Advisory (WSRA) Board Members:
Chairperson
Rusty Kapela
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
N3533 Hardscrabble Rd.
Dousman, WI 53118
Board Members
Kenneth R. Rizzo
Meteorologist-in-Charge
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
N3533 Hardscrabble Rd.
Dousman, WI 53118
Jeff
Last
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
2485 S. Point Road
Green Bay, WI 54313
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Todd Shea
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
N2788 County RD FA
La Crosse, WI 54601
Carol
Christenson
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
5027 Miller Trunk Highway
Duluth, MN 55811
Todd
Krause
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
1733 Lake Drive West
Chanhassen MN 55317-8581
Diane
Kleibor
Disaster Program Manager
Wisconsin Emergency Management
2400 Wright Street
PO Box 7865
Madison, WI 53707-7865
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Alan Wohlferd
Warning & Communications Program Manager
Disaster Program Manager
Wisconsin Emergency Management
2400 Wright Street
PO Box 7865
Madison, WI 53707-7865
Lois
Ristow
WEM Regional Director
West Central Region
5005 Hwy 53 South
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Janice
Brown
Clark County Emergency Management Director
Courthouse, Rm 300
517 Court St.
Neillsville, WI 54456
Nancey
Crowley
Manitowoc County Emergency Management Director
1025 S. Ninth St.
Manitowoc, WI 54220
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Wisconsin State StormReady Focal Point:
The Wisconsin
State StormReady Focal Point is the National Weather Service's (NWS)
Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) who services the state
capitol city of Madison. This WCM works out of the Milwaukee/Sullivan
NWS Weather Forecast Office.
Do you have
questions about the StormReady program in Wisconsin? Contact the
person listed below.
Present Wisconsin
State StormReady Focal Point:
Rusty Kapela
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NWS Forecast Office - NOAA
N3533 Hardscrabble Rd.
Dousman, WI 53118
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