The Scott County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce that the National Weather Service has recognized Scott County as a StormReady community. Scott County Emergency Management Director, Captain Scott Haas, accepted the StormReady designation from National Weather Service Meteorologist Bill Borghoff during the Scott County Board Meeting on February 21.
In order to receive the designation as a StormReady community, Scott County Emergency Management was required to complete an application and meet preset criteria set by the National Weather Service. The qualifications required Scott County Emergency Management to show they had established several ways to alert the public about weather events, had more than one way to receive severe weather alerts and warnings, and demonstrate how they continuously monitor local weather conditions.
“An important part of becoming a StormReady community was ensuring public readiness,” said Captain Haas. “We accomplished this by offering weather-related community training, integrating weather messages into our social media accounts, and by having a terrific group of volunteers in SAFCOM.”
SAFCOM is a volunteer group who assist emergency management with preparedness activities such as weather spotting, emergency levee building, and serving as call takers if our emergency hotline is activated. SAFCOM is one of the first volunteer organizations in Minnesota to do storm spotting for local emergency management.
“The StormReady designation reaffirmed today that our emergency preparedness staff are taking all the steps required to help keep our citizens safe from severe weather events,” said Sheriff Luke Hennen. “We are being proactive in our approach to threats in our area, and in the process we have developed a strong relationship with the National Weather Service.”
Scott County is the twelfth county in Minnesota, and the third in the metro area, to be recognized as a StormReady community by the National Weather Service. The StormReady program was created by the National Weather Service to recognize communities who have proven they have the communication and safety tools necessary to save lives and reduce property loss before, during, and after a severe weather event.