PRESS
RELEASE
NYC-ARECS
Encourages New Yorker's to Participate in the
National Weather Service SKYWARN Spotter Program
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Point
of contact:
NEW YORK,
NY (March 14, 2012) As
the severe weather season approaches, the New York City Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications Service (NYC-ARECS) encourages
New Yorker's to participate in
Skywarn, a network of volunteer storm spotters trained by the
National Weather Service.
To obtain
critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service
(NWS), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, established Skywarn
with partner organizations. Skywarn is a volunteer program of
trained severe weather spotters. These spotters help keep their
local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports
of severe weather to the National Weather Service.
Although Skywarn
spotters provide essential information for all types of weather
hazards, the main responsibility of a Skywarn spotter is to identify
and describe severe local storms. In the average year, 10,000
severe thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and more than 1,000 tornadoes
occur across the United States. These events threatened lives
and property.
Since the
program started in the 1970s, the information provided by Skywarn
spotters, coupled with Doppler radar technology, improved satellite
and other data, has enabled NWS to issue more timely and accurate
warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.
Skywarn storm
spotters help make up the Nation’s first line of defense
against severe weather. There can be no finer reward than to know
that their efforts have given communities the precious gift of
time–seconds and minutes that can help save lives.
The NWS encourages
anyone with an interest in public service and access to communication,
such as ham radio, to join the Skywarn program. Volunteers include
police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility
workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated
with hospitals, schools, churches, synagogues, nursing homes or
who have a responsibility for protecting others are also encouraged
to become a spotter.
The next
New York City Skywarn training class will be on April 18, 2012
at the NYC Office of Emergency Management, 165
Cadman Plaza East in Brooklyn. The training is free, the
class starts at 7pm.
Members
of NYC-ARECS are dedicated to providing auxiliary radio communications
for New York City in the event of a technological, natural or
terrorist disaster. Team members are licensed by the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and may participate in the
Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), a protocol
created by the FCC and is administered by the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency.
To
learn more about the activities of the New York City Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications Service, or if you are interested
in joining the team, please visit www.NYC-ARECS.org.
