ETCOG Becomes Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador for National Weather Service
East Texas Public Safety • June 9, 2021
What is Weather-Ready Nation?
The Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador™
is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) to strengthen partnerships with external organizations toward building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events.
As part of the WRN initiative, NOAA partners with emergency management officials, businesses, and the media to motivate individuals and communities to prepare for a potential weather disaster.
What do Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors Do?
WRN Ambassadors will serve as change agents and leaders in their community. They will inspire others to be better informed and prepared, thus helping to minimize, mitigate, or avoid the impacts of natural disasters. WRN Ambassadors can encourage these changes in their community in several ways, including:
- Setting an example by becoming “weather-ready” yourself (e.g., making employee preparedness a priority and having a disaster plan).
- Promoting Weather-Ready Nation key messages in your outreach activities.
- Providing incentives to your constituents and stakeholders to become more resilient,
- Sharing success stories with NOAA.
What Does a Weather-Ready Nation Look Like?
A Weather-Ready Nation takes well-informed communities, businesses and individuals that are ready, responsive and resilient to extreme events. Key actions include:
- Know your risk by discovering the weather risks where you live and closely following National Weather Service forecasts and warnings.
- Act by creating a family emergency plan and kit and making sure you can receive emergency messages (e.g., NOAA Weather Radio, wireless emergency alerts).
- Be an example by using social media to share important hazard information.
Ultimately, a Weather-Ready Nation empowers everyone to make life-saving decisions that also prevent devastating economic losses. It is all of us working together to become a nation known for its resiliency in the face of deadly weather events. To learn more about the Weather-Ready Nation initiative or becoming a WRN Ambassador, visit the WRN website at www.noaa.gov/wrn
or e-mail NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation team at wrn.feedback@noaa.gov.
For more resource and notifications, follow our social media pages.
Mandatory Workshops Scheduled for Applicants
ETCOG announces that $3.1 million in grants from the Office of the Governor's (OOG) Public Safety Office have been awarded to East Texas jurisdictions and nonprofit organizations. These funds are aimed at enhancing public safety and supporting victims of crime. The program’s mission is to strengthen Texas communities by supporting initiatives that help victims recover and feel secure while also preventing crime through programs that: Prevent juvenile delinquency and support truancy prevention Provide services to victims of crime and address violence against women Support law enforcement and improve the criminal justice system Prevent child sex trafficking, bring justice to its perpetrators, and restore victims ETCOG's Public Safety Division assists jurisdictions in applying for these funds annually, and applications submitted for funding are ranked and scored by the ETCOG Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, which is comprised of local subject-matter experts from across the region. The following Victims of Crime Act, Justice Assistance, Violence Against Women Act, and Juvenile Assistance grants totaling $3,136,019.36 have been approved by the OOG for funding in East Texas: Victims of Crime Act Funds - $2,528,962.18 The Crime Victims Assistance Grant Program (VOCA) devotes resources to providing direct services to victims of crime to help them recover and navigate the justice system.
