July 5, 2023
Tallahassee Community College has earned the National Weather Service StormReady certification. The certification recognizes the College’s preparedness to handle all types of severe weather.
The StormReady program was designed by the National Weather Service to help arm America’s communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property — before, during, and after a severe weather event. The StormReady program encourages communities, including college and university campuses, to improve their hazardous weather operations by providing emergency managers with clear-cut guidelines.
The College’s Emergency Management and Safety Office confirmed compliance with the following criteria:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.
- Establish several ways to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts to the campus community.
- Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally.
- Promote the importance of public readiness across campus.
- Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
Among the College’s weather preparedness responsibilities is managing the TCCAlert emergency notification system which is activated in the event of severe weather impacting one of TCC’s campuses. TCC students, faculty, and staff are automatically enrolled to receive emergency messages through this system.