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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: September 15, 2015 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-d <br /> SUBJECT: Recognizing Orange County as a "Storm Ready" Community <br /> DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Kirby Saunders, Emergency <br /> Management Coordinator, 245-6135 <br /> Josh Hollingsworth, Emergency <br /> Management Planner, 245-6138 <br /> PURPOSE: To accept "Storm Ready" community designation from the National Weather <br /> Service. <br /> BACKGROUND: Nearly 90% of all presidentially declared disasters are weather-related, <br /> leading to around 500 deaths per year and nearly $14 billion in damage. To help Americans <br /> guard against the ravages of severe weather, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric <br /> Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) designed the Storm Ready program. <br /> Storm Ready helps prepare America's communities with the communication and safety skills <br /> they need to save lives and protect property. <br /> Many laws and regulations exist to help local emergency managers deal with hazardous <br /> material spills, search and rescue operations, medical crises, etc., but there are few guidelines <br /> dealing with the specifics of hazardous weather response. The NWS recognized this need and <br /> designed Storm Ready to help communities of all kinds — towns, cities, counties, Tribal Nations, <br /> universities, airports, and industrial complexes — implement procedures to reduce the potential <br /> for disastrous weather-related consequences. <br /> To be recognized as Storm Ready, communities must meet guidelines established by the NWS <br /> in partnership with federal, state, and local emergency management professionals. More <br /> specifically, to be recognized as Storm Ready, communities must: <br /> • Incorporate severe weather threats into their hazard mitigation and emergency response <br /> plans. <br /> • Establish a 24-hour Warning Point and Emergency Operations Center. <br /> • Establish multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the <br /> public. <br /> • Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally. <br /> • Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars, severe <br /> weather spotter training and by conducting emergency exercises. <br />