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NOAA expands northern Maine emergency communications

Emergency Management Alert, February 21, 2008

Forgive us for running two Maine items in one month, but having been snowed in at Presque Isle and forced to fly out on a toy plane, we saw white-knuckle significance in this story about the appointment of the University of Maine at Presque Isle as a National Weather Service StormReady campus. No lobsters, here: Presque Isle, population 9,511, is in inland Maine and north of much of New Brunswick.

To maintain its status as a Storm Ready campus, UMaine-Presque Isle must:

 Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
 Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public
 Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally
 Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars
 Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises

According to MEMA, StormReady, established in 1999, is a nationwide program that helps communities better protect their citizens during severe weather-from tornadoes to tsunamis to winter storms. Program "communities" can include cities, towns, universities, tribal nations (aka Indian Nations), and government and private entities. The program helps arm such communities with the planning and communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property before and during storm events.

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