Mar 11, 2024 By Katherine Mansfield 5 min read

Last month, Canton Township Emergency Management Agency received its official StormReady Program certification, making it one of two municipalities in Washington County to receive the certification through the National Weather Service.

“There are 21 municipalities that are StormReady in the entire state. The only two municipalities that completed the program in Washington County are Canton Township and North Strabane Township. There are three other communities in the county that started the process but never finished. We recognize those as StormReady supporters,” said Dan Harvey, deputy director of emergency management for Washington County.

“For them to be StormReady, there’s a list of guidelines. They have to have early notification warning in their emergency operations plan. They have to have their own weather radio system.”

The StormReady Program prepares communities for natural disasters by improving local hazardous weather operations. The program helps counties, townships, municipalities and boroughs, universities, military bases and other groups launch a severe weather alerts system, monitor local weather conditions, host community seminars and develop a formal weather plan, including training severe weather spotters and hosting emergency exercises.

To be StormReady certified, an entity must take several courses, complete trainings and attend meetings. Certification can take a few weeks or a few years.

Washington County’s public safety department has been StormReady since about 2015, Harvey said, and last year was promoted by the NWS Pittsburgh to program ambassador. Canton Township launched an Emergency Management Agency in 2018 and began its StormReady certification process about two years ago.

“It’s been a goal since I started,” said Joe Joscsak, Canton Township Emergency Management Agency coordinator. “We have a lot of weak areas, vulnerable areas (in Canton). Just to be able to alert the residents about any type of bad storms or severe weather coming into the township – it’s all about the community, to protect and help out the community.”

Entities apply for StormReady Program certification for a variety of reasons, including tax breaks, said Matt Brudy, with the NSW Pittsburgh. For Canton, the appeal is connection.

“It gives us a lot more resources. We have more resources, we have more communication with the National Weather Service, so we can give alerts and be more up-to-date if something happens,” said Sheila Renz, who handles Canton Township emergency management public relations. “Our area is usually really impacted by flooding, and we’ve had a couple tornadoes touch down relatively close. That (StormReady Program certification) was the first step to get us really prepared for these storms.

Last week, Renz said, Canton Township EMS received a severe weather notification from the NWS that it was able to share to CTEMS’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/CTEM52.

“Everybody who follows our page could see there was going to be hail. People can prepare,” Renz said.

Canton formally received its certification last month. Fayette County EMA is StormReady certified, the NWS said, and at the start of this year, Menallen Township received its program certification – the only municipality in the county that’s StormReady, according to the NWS Pittsburgh.

“We’ve been working on it for a while. The weather changes these days are crazy. In 2020, we got 10 inches of rain in December. It’s very, very important to be proactive on our weather preparedness,” said township Supervisor Brian May.

He noted StormReady certification also increases the township’s ISO number, which means residents are eligible for additional insurances.

“It helps the residents of the township,” May said.

Greene County Emergency Management Agency has been StormReady certified since August 2011, said director Richard Policz. The county renewed its certification this fall because the program is extremely beneficial, he said.

“We have a better working relationship with the National Weather Service, and it just speeds up our warnings. Any time there’s anything, Fred McMullen, who’s the head meteorologist in Pittsburgh, he’s calling. He’s been here personally, he and his team, for different investigations. It’s just made the relationship that much stronger,” Policz said.

When the county first received its StormReady certification, the community got involved.

“There was training open to the public. There are people that have learned to be basically civilian spotters, that report into the National Weather Service,” Policz said.

Greene County EMA is looking to increase community involvement by inviting meteorologists to present at public meetings and inviting local schools and businesses to achieve their own StormReady Program certification.

Those initiatives are still in the planning stages, however. What is firmly planted, however, is Greene County EMA’s commitment to remaining StormReady. Washington and Fayette counties are also committed to retaining their StormReady certification.

“Pennsylvania is one of four states in the U.S. that every single county is StormReady. The goal in Pennsylvania is to have every county be an ambassador. Whether it be flooding or ice storms or winter weather, (weather) is always our No. 1 concern. If we can do anything to be prepared for that, it’s always a benefit,” Harvey said. “We have good communication with a lot of our municipalities. We’re here to give them support whenever they need it.”