If bad weather

threatens Coweta County, the county is one of the most prepared in the

state to deal with the problem.

Dignitaries

from the National Weather Service, along with the Georgia Emergency Management

Agency appeared at Tuesday's Coweta County Commission to present the county

with its StormReady certification.

The county

has the distinction of becoming part of the growing list of recognized

StormReady communities. StormReady, a new program initiated by the National

Weather Service in partnership with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency

and the Emergency Management Association of Georgia, is designed to encourage

communities to create a severe weather action plan.

"While

the weather is beyond our control, the StormReady program serves as another

tool to help us better prepare in dealing with whatever Mother Nature

sends our way," said GEMA Director Gary McConnell. "Coweta County

Emergency Management Agency and local leaders should be commended for

taking proactive measures to protect their citizens."

Although specific

StormReady guidelines vary depending on the size of the community, to

be designated in the program requires the following:

Establish

a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.

Develop more

than one way to receive and disseminate severe weather warnings and forecasts

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.

"Citizens

in a StormReady community can take comfort in the fact that their local

leaders have achieved a standard level of protection from hazardous weather,"

said Lans Rothfusz, Meteorologist-in-Charge, NWS, and chairman of the

StormReady Advisory Board. "This program also fulfills the mission

of the partner agencies which is to protect life and property from dangerous

weather conditions."

For more information

on severe weather and the StormReady program visit the NWS Web site at

www.nws.noaa.gov/stormready or the GEMA Web site at www.gema.state.ga.us.