Little River County, AR, July 2015, from left: Sheriff Gary Gregory, Caney Township Constable Wes Tudor,  County Judge Mike Cranford, EM Don Hale Jr., NWS Shreveport MIC Mario Valverde, (Senior Forecaster Jason Hansford, Storm Spotters Rudy Hatridge, Linda Hatridge, Austin Ardwin and Claire Davis, and NWS WCM Bill Parker.

Being part of a Weather-Ready Nation is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events. Americans live in the most severe weather-prone country on Earth. Each year, Americans cope with an average of the following intense storms:

• 100,000 thunderstorms
• 10,000 severe thunderstorms
• 5,000 floods or flash floods
• 1,000 tornadoes
• 2 landfalling deadly hurricanes

And this dangerous weather is in addition to winter storms, intense summer heat, high winds, wild fires and other deadly weather impacts.

You can make sure your community is StormReady®. Some 98% of all presidentially declared disasters are weather related, leading to around 500 deaths per year and nearly $15 billion in damage.

StormReady helps arm America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property--before, during and after the event. StormReady helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety programs.

StormReady communities, counties, universities, military bases, indian nations, commerical enterprises and other groups are better prepared to save lives from the onslaught of severe weather through advanced planning, education and awareness.

No community is storm proof, but StormReady can help communities save lives. StormReady News headlines detail how it really makes a difference.

Applying is easy. Your local NWS office Warning Coordination Metoeorologist will walk you through the easy application process.

Sites that can't meet the StormReady criteria can show their support for weather safety by joining the StormReady Supporter program.

Memphis Airport, July 2015, from left: Jim Belles, MIC, NWS Memphis; Cedric Simon, Operations Duty Manager, Memphis International Airport; Stephen Kearney, Forecaster, CWSU Memphis; Terry Blue, Vice President of Operations, Memphis International Airport; Gary Woodall, WCM, NWS Memphis, TN