WSSU to become an official StormReady campus in ceremony Sept. 17

Winston-Salem State University will officially become a StormReady campus during a recognition ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 2 p.m. in the Donald J. Reaves Center, Room 100A, featuring Nicholas “Nick” Petro, warning coordination meteorologist of the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

The designation will make WSSU the second historically black university among the University of North Carolina system member institutions to become StormReady, and the second higher education institution in Forsyth County.

StormReady is a voluntary, community preparedness program that encourages government entities and commercial gathering sites to prepare for severe storms. The program, sponsored by the United States National Weather Service (NWS), issues recognition to communities and sites across the country that demonstrate severe weather readiness.

To become StormReady, WSSU submitted an application that was followed by a site visit and an on-site meeting with the warning coordination meteorologist of the local NWS office in Raleigh. To qualify, WSSU had to meet the following criteria:

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

According to the NWS, the United States sees an average of 10,000 thunderstorms, 2,500 floods, 1,000 tornadoes and six deadly hurricanes annually, with roughly 90 percent of all presidentially declared disaster areas being weather-related.

“This designation highlights our ongoing commitment to keeping the campus community informed of severe weather threats and implementing best practices for weather preparation and public awareness,” said Jason Stogner, director of WSSU’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

The recognition ceremony will include remarks by WSSU Chancellor Bonita Brown, Stogner, and Petro, who will make the formal presentation.

The announcement of the StormReady designation comes during National Preparedness Month. WSSU’s OEM has embarked on a campaign, which includes a video message from Stogner and Brown, to educate the campus community on being prepared whenever a disaster strikes.