3M honored as storm ready facility

Justin Messner/Daily Mail-- Officials from NOAA National Weather Service present 3M employees and Emergency Management officials with a plaque honoring StormReady status. 3M completed a number of tasks to become better prepared for southwest Missouri's severe weather outbreaks. From left: Ron Brown, 3M employee; Dennis Kimrey, 3M employee and Vernon County Emergency Management director; Greg Poe, 3M employee; David Clauss, 3M plant manager; Ron Reynolds, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency director; and Steve Runnels, Warning Coordination Meteorologist from the National Weather Service of Springfield.

Officials from NOAA National Weather Service along with Missouri State Emergency Management Agency Director Ron Reynolds, made a visit to Nevada on Wednesday, Jan. 23, to honor one the few industries in the nation to become a storm ready facility.

3M of Nevada has completed what the National Weather Service calls a set of rigorous warning criteria, and was given the title of StormReady.

"StormReady encourages communities to take a new, proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public awareness," said Steve Runnels, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Springfield. "As a safety-oriented industrial leader, the National Weather Service especially welcomes the 3M plant in Nevada, Mo., as only the 11th commercial, industrial site in the nation, joining more than 1,100 communities across the country."

During the presentation, David Clauss 3M plant manager said, those who benefit most from this prepared status are 3M's employees. He explained that the employees feel more secure when bad weather strikes now that safety measures are in place. Dennis Kimrey 3M employee and Vernon County Emergency Management Director added that not only was this a positive safety step for 3M but the entire community as well. He said, "with the chemicals we have in the plant and being on the southwest corner of town, there is always a lot going on out here. This is a good safety measure for the entire community."

"This recognition is even more meaningful immediately following the tornado outbreak of Jan. 7-8, 2008, that resulted in the deaths of two Missourians and damage to hundreds of homes," said Bill Davis, meteorologist in charge of the Springfield National Weather Service. "Nationwide, more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 2,500 floods and 1,000 tornadoes impact the United States annually. Potentially deadly weather can affect every person in the country. That's why NOAA's National Weather Service developed the StormReady program."

To be given a StormReady status, a facility or community must:

* 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 public;

* Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;

* Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars;

* Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

"The United States is the most severe weather prone region of the world. The mission of the National Weather Service is to reduce the loss of life and property from these storms, and StormReady will help us create better prepared communities throughout the country," Runnels said. "Just like communities, families need to be storm ready by having an action plan for severe weather. Through StormReady, the National Weather Service plans to educate every American about what to do when severe weather strikes because it is ultimately each individual's responsibility to protect him or herself."