BRAZIL – Local law enforcement and fire personnel are the state’s first responders to natural disasters like tornadoes and blizzards. That’s why the National Weather Service and the Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch are teaming up to train future public safety officials.
“National Weather Service and Indiana Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch instructors are this summer, joining ranks to begin offering free “Weather-Ready Nation” training to high schoolers interested in careers with sheriff, police, and fire departments,” said Vigo County Sheriff John Plasse, ISYR board president.
Being part of a Weather-Ready Nation is about preparing our Hoosier hometowns for their increasing vulnerability to extreme weather.
“Our state is centrally located in the most severe weather-prone country on earth,” Sheriff Plasse said.
Former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, who serves as Utica Township Fire Chief and ISYR vice president, said 98 percent of all Presidentially declared disasters are weather related.
These U.S. disasters cause approximately 500 deaths each year and about $15 billion in damage, according to the NWS.
Noel said ISYR’s involvement in the Weather-Ready program will help arm Indiana’s communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property – before, during, and after a weather event. “Our goal is to help future community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety for years to come.”
No community is stormproof, but Weather-Ready training can help save lives, ISYR Secretary and Cass County Sheriff Ed Schroder echoed.
Weather-Ready programs use grassroots approaches to help cities, towns, and counties develop plans to handle all types of severe weather – from tornadoes to blizzards – through advanced planning, education, and awareness, Schroder said.
Weather-Ready Nation training will be part of two, free weeklong pilot academies to be hosted at ISYR this summer, said John Jones, ISYR treasurer and owner of southern Indiana’s John Jones Auto Group.
Jones said joint NWS-ISYR training will prepare young leaders to help their home communities become part of a Weather-Ready Nation:
- Having more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts;
- Following personal routines to monitor local weather conditions;
- Promoting the importance of public readiness through public education, traditional and social media; and
- Encouraging local schools, workplaces, churches, and homes to develop hazardous weather plans, spotters, and exercises.
Jones said ISYR will host a pilot Sheriff & Police Explorer Academy on July 10-14 and a Fire & EMS Explorer Academy on July 20-24 for high schoolers from Clay, Greene, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo counties.
More counties will be added in subsequent years, as private donations are raised and possibly state funds are appropriated. Applications for this year’s free leadership camps will be available through participating high schools and public safety agencies starting May 1.
