ITD's north-central office earns National Weather Service designation

The Idaho Transportation Department’s office in north-central Idaho received the Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador endorsement from the National Weather Service Feb. 9, making ITD still the only transportation agency in the region to earn the designation. Ambassadors serve as change agents and leaders in their communities, providing an example of preparedness.

ITD now has NWS designations almost entirely across the state, encompassing nearly 9,500 miles of publicly traveled routes.

The ambassador program is designed to recognize partners who are improving the nation's readiness, responsiveness and overall resilience to extreme weather events. Ambassadors can encourage positive changes in their community and set an example by becoming “weather-ready.”  This includes making employee preparedness a priority and having a disaster plan, promoting Weather-Ready Nation key messages in all outreach activities, and providing incentives to constituents and stakeholders to also become more resilient and prepared.

The Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador initiative is an effort to formally recognize NOAA partners who are improving the nation’s readiness against extreme weather, water and climate events.

“This designation shows ITD’s commitment to providing safety for all of the drivers using our roads across the region,” said Bob Schumacher, ITD north-central operations manager. “This strengthens our existing partnership with the National Weather Service to ensure preparedness.

“For several years, the district has worked with teams from Spokane and Missoula to discuss methods and procedures. The Storm-Ready designation is just the latest step forward,” he added.

Weather-Ready Nation status is about building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather.

For more information, here's a link to the Weather Ready Nation website: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/


Published 02-19-16