The Guilford County Preparedness Committee encourages everyone to practice their severe weather preparedness plans as part of North Carolina’s Severe Weather Awareness Week, which will be observed March 1-7, 2009. The theme for this year is “Get In, Get Down and Cover Up” when severe weather threatens. A Tornado Drill is scheduled for Wednesday morning, March 4 at 9:30 a.m.

The Guilford County Preparedness Committee works in cooperation with the National Weather Service in Raleigh to develop severe weather emergency preparedness messages. These messages will be posted routinely on our Ready Guilford website at www.readyguilford.com. In addition, a Twitter account has been developed and weekly preparedness messages will be sent to all of our subscribers to further enhance our preparedness initiative. You can follow us at http://twitter.com/readyguilford.

The Guilford County Preparedness Committee is a compilation of agencies in Guilford County that provide emergency preparedness and safety information to the public. The committee was formed in 2007 to ensure that a coordinated effort is being taken to educate our residents of the hazards present and the steps that they can take to prepare for disasters. Member agencies include:
 
•American Red Cross – Greensboro Chapter
•American Red Cross – High Point / Thomasville Chapter
•Greensboro Emergency Management
•Greensboro Fire Department
•Greensboro Police Department
•Guilford County Department of Public Health
•Guilford County Emergency Services (EM, Fire & EMS)
•Guilford County Fire Rescue Council
•Guilford County Sheriff’s Office
•High Point Fire Department
•High Point Police Department

GUILFORD COUNTY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE URGES RESIDENTS TO PREPARE FOR EMERGENCIES DURING FIFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH

During the month of September, Guilford County agencies will promote family and business preparedness.  While family preparedness measures are standardized for most populations, our Public Safety First Responders need to ensure that their families are prepared as well.

The Department of Homeland Security has produced a First Responder’s Guide to Preparedness to focus on the needs of First Responder families.

To view the document, follow this link.

Guilford County recently felt the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay which caused widespread flooding throughout the county.  With the tropics heating up, please make sure that you are prepared for future storms that may impact our area.

A few resources are:

ReadyGuilford.Com  - A repository on preparing you and your family for most disasters that could impact Guilford County.

National Weather Service – A real time source of Severe Weather forecasts and watch / warning information.

FloodSmart.gov – A GIS interactive site to determine your home or businesses risk for defined flood zones.