StormReady Certification

The City of Moore has been certified as a "StormReady Community" by the National Weather Service. Presentation of the certification was made by the NWS at the Moore City Council meeting of October 1, 2001. Moore is the first city in central Oklahoma to meet certification requirements.

Mike Foster, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the Norman NWS Forecast Office, stated that Moore has, "demonstrated your weather preparedness in a variety of ways: from your 24-hour Emergency Operations Center, to multiple methods of receiving NWS forecasts and warnings, to your monitoring of local weather conditions, promotion of readiness through public seminars, and development and implementation of a formal hazardous weather plan".

Among the criteria that our community had to meet:

A 24-hour warning point, with the ability to receive and disseminate weather warnings, and the ability and authority to activate local warning systems. This is achieved in our 9-1-1 Emergency Operations Center.

Ability to relay real-time storm reports to the National Weather Service. We can do this either via telephone or amateur radio.

We must have at least four means of receiving NWS warning information. We can actually use six different means:

• EMWIN, a data stream sent by NWS via satellite;
• OLETS, the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, which has a direct interface with the NWS;
• NOAA weather radio;
• Amateur radio link between our EOC and the NWS;
• Alpha-Paging of warnings from both the Oklahoma County and State of Oklahoma EOC's;
• Cable television.

We must also have methods of monitoring hydrometeorolgical data. We do this via some internet systems, and also our own weather instruments.

We are required to have multiple means of dissemination of warnings. Our methods include:

• NOAA weather radio receivers at all of our public buildings; sports associations; the Library, and most schools;
• Cable television interrupt system;
• Outdoor warning siren system, with three independent control points.

We're required to work in community preparedness, as well. This includes having annual public weather safety presentations; annual formal training for our storm spotters; and hosting spotter training.

Finally, there are some formal administrative tasks, such as having visits to the NWS, visits by the NWS, a formal weather operations plan, and an annual emergency exercise.

 Questions? 

Please contact the City of Moore Emergency Management Department should you have questions or would like more information on the StormReady program of the City. Our office is in City Hall at 301 N. Broadway, and our office hours are Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. It's always wise to call us at 793-5062 before coming though, as we are on 24-hour call for emergency response, and we also occasionally work in the field, attend training, etc.