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October 26, 2021

Flash floods, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and snow are a few extreme weather conditions known to occur in north Georgia. And the University of North Georgia (¹û¶³´«Ã½) alerts students, faculty and staff on all five campuses to those conditions in a timely fashion.

"We have multiple ways to alert the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ community to every weather warning," Kathryn Smith, interim associate director of emergency preparedness within ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Public Safety, said. "We encourage students, faculty, and staff to sign up for ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Alerts through their banner account." 

For those efforts and more, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ has earned StormReady recognition from the National Weather Service (NWS) for the second consecutive renewal term. The university is one of 290 higher education institutions in the nation and one of 16 in Georgia designated as a StormReady University.

"Being StormReady demonstrates the extra procedures we have put into place to be prepared for extreme weather conditions," Smith said. "We want to ensure that our students, faculty and staff, many who reside and commute to campus, are prepared for any weather emergencies."

David J. Nadler, warning coordination meteorologist for NWS, praised ¹û¶³´«Ã½’s efforts to maintain StormReady status.

"It is clearly the result of your vision, leadership, hard work, and commitment to the students and faculty of ¹û¶³´«Ã½," Nadler said in a letter to ¹û¶³´«Ã½. "They should take great pride and comfort in maintaining this status."

To achieve the StormReady designation, a university or community must meet the following requirements:

• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.
• Have multiple avenues to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and alert the public.
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

Smith said ¹û¶³´«Ã½ has met and exceeded each requirement. ¹û¶³´«Ã½'s Public Safety dispatch center acts as the 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center. The university's LiveSafe app alerts students, faculty and staff to weather emergencies such as a tornado warning, which is when a tornado has been reported or spotted. The free LiveSafe app connects ¹û¶³´«Ã½ students, faculty, and staff to the university's resources. 

"We will send out emails, phone, text, LiveSafe, and desktop alerts for a tornado warning," Smith said. "When we have a tornado watch, we alert students, faculty, and staff via email."  She explained a tornado watch is when meteorological conditions are favorable for producing tornadoes.

"Every campus also has a direct line of communication to the county's emergency manager to expedite any extreme weather warnings," Smith said.

These definitive steps are part of the actions the emergency preparedness division takes to keep all ¹û¶³´«Ã½ students, faculty and staff safe. Other steps include training the university community in first aid, CPR and other safety procedures.

"As of fall 2021, we have placed emergency action guides with every automated external defibrillator (AED) in all ¹û¶³´«Ã½ facilities," Smith said. "Sgt. Adan Diaz and Officer Sheri Chapman were instrumental in accomplishing that."

To learn more, visit the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Emergency Preparedness website.