Amador County - At last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting Amador County was recognized by the National Weather Service, or NWS, as a “StormReady” community and now becomes the sixth out of fifty-eight counties to receive this designation. During the presentation, Dan Keeton, Meteorologist in Charge of the Sacramento Office, presented Board Chairman Ted Novelli, Sheriff Martin Ryan and Emergency Services Coordinator Lynne Olson with the official “StormReady” designation. “StormReady” is a nationwide program designed to help communities better protect their citizens during severe weather by focusing on improving communications and preparedness. The program is voluntary and encourages communities to take a proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations. To be certified as “StormReady”, communities must: establish a 24 hour warning point and emergency operations center; have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings/forecasts and to alert the public; create a system that monitors weather conditions locally; and develop a hazardous weather plan which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises. After the NWS presentation, Sheriff Martin Ryan detailed some of the county’s activities that support the “StormReady” program. The county receives weather alerts through the Sheriff’s Office 24 Hour Communications Center via State systems. NWS weather radios that are programmed to sound an alarm during severe weather warnings are also present in county buildings, in the Jackson, Ione, Plymouth and Sutter Creek City Halls, and all of the public schools in the county. The county also has the Reverse 911 community alert notification system for homes and businesses and a portable advisory radio system that can transmit messages to the motoring public via 530 AM radio when deployed. Additionally, the Office of Emergency Services and the County Public Health Department provides preparedness information to the public through the local media and at community events throughout the year. The “StormReady” program is a bit more established on the east coast and in the mid west where severe weather such as thunderstorms can turn into deadly tornados within minutes. It is slowly gaining more awareness on the west coast mainly due to flooding and the threat of tsunamis. Staff Report