Yakutat is found on the rugged coast of the Gulf of Alaska between the southeast and central regions of the state. The community has achieved the standards established by NOAA’s National Weather Service for the TsunamiReady™ and StormReady® programs.
Emergency managers developed and implemented a comprehensive action plan to insure the community is ready for severe weather and tsunami events.
Tom Ainsworth, the Meteorologist-in-Charge of the Juneau Weather Forecast Office says of the designation, “I’m honored to recognize Yakutat as our sixth TsunamiReady community in Alaska and second TsunamiReady community in Southeast Alaska. The National Weather Service continues to enhance the nation’s tsunami and severe weather detection, assessment and warning system, but a timely warning is meaningless unless people know how to respond. This program is designed to help people prepare for what to do should a tsunami or severe weather strike.”
Yakutat will receive their recognition from the Weather Service on March 24th on their readiness when TsunamiReady and StormReady road signs are given to community officials.
Program Standards – To gain TsunamiReady and StormReady status, a community like Yakutat had to:
- Establish a 24-hour location to receive National Weather Service warnings and activate a local warning systems
- Insitute more than one way to alert community members about tsunami and severe weather warnings
- Develop a system to monitor local weather conditions
- Promote the importance of public readiness throughout the community
- Craft a written hazardous weather plan that includes training for severe weather spotters and conducting emergency exercises.
NOAA works with the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association and the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program to facilitate these programs. The certification Yakutat is good for three years and then the community will need to take steps to become recertified.
Copyright © 2009 by Alan Sorum
