When it comes right down to it, the most common danger Radford University faces on a regular basis is one of the oldest hazards there is: Mother Nature.
“The most frequent threat we face as an institution of higher education is the threat posed by severe weather,” university Director of Emergency Management Peter McCann said this week.
That includes hurricanes, snow and ice storms, and flooding rains.
The university recently took significant steps toward planning for such sudden meteorological events, and, on April 25, RU was formally named a StormReady Supporter by the National Weather Service.
During a brief meeting at Martin Hall, Phil Hysell, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service, presented Radford University interim President Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D., with both a plaque and a road sign that announce this new designation.
“The storm program recognizes those communities that take a proactive approach to improving their hazardous weather operations and to promoting severe-weather preparedness activities and to participating in those awareness activities,” Hysell said.
“They’re more resilient, responsive and ready for significant weather events,” he said.
Some of the requirements for the program included establishing a 24-hour warning point location with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio at the Radford Police Department dispatch center; setting up multiple ways to receive and monitor warnings from the National Weather Service; installing a method to alert the community of weather warnings; conducting outreach initiatives to educate the community on weather preparedness; and maintaining a hazardous weather plan.
“This certification represents a partnership between Radford University and the National Weather Service to provide the best service possible to the Radford community when it comes to managing the potential for impacts from severe weather,” McCann said.
Radford University has been compliant with the StormReady Supporter program requirements since November 2020, but the pandemic prevented a public recognition ceremony until this month.
The StormReady program was developed in 1999, and today, more than 3,000 communities and universities across the country have earned the StormReady designation. The StormReady Supporter designation in Virginia applies to universities with fewer than 10,000 students living within the center of campus.
Neil Harvey