Creation Museum Certified by the National Weather Service as a “StormReady Supporter”

Editor's note: The following is a news release, slightly adapted, that was distributed to the national media.

PETERSBURG, Ky., June 12, 2014—The Creation Museum has earned the “StormReady Supporter” designation from NOAA’s National Weather Service for completing the severe weather preparedness program.

The museum’s safety team met a rigorous set of criteria covering warning communications and emergency planning to earn StormReady Supporter status, and is now better equipped to handle severe weather emergencies.

Today, at a ceremony at the Creation Museum, Kenneth J. Haydu, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the Wilmington, Ohio Weather Forecast Office, presented a StormReady certificate to Ken Ham, museum founder and president, with other officials participating.

As Ken Ham received the certification for storm readiness from Kenneth Haydu of the National Weather Service, the museum’s Tom Miller, Dan Mangus, Tim Wallingford, and Darin Powell (left to right) looked on—along with (to the far right) Captain Wayne Isaacs of the Hebron Fire Department and Steve Hearne, Deputy Director of Boone County Emergency Management.

“Northern Kentucky, where Creation Museum is located, experiences different types of hazardous weather, including tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, heavy rain, and winter storms”, Haydu said. “Declaring the museum as a StormReady Supporter assures that this critical information gets to the right people, and that these individuals know what steps to take to keep the employees and visitors of the Creation Museum safe.”

The United States experiences some of the most severe weather in the world, with more than 10,000 severe thunderstorms, 2,500 floods, and 1,000 tornadoes annually. The National Weather Service developed the StormReady program to help protect lives and property from severe weather.

“From the very beginning, a hallmark of the Creation Museum has been to offer superior hospitality to our visitors in a safe and wholesome environment,” declared Ham. “As we receive this wonderful designation, it shows the community that we have an ongoing commitment to the safety of our museum guests and employees, including in hazardous weather.”

To earn StormReady Supporter designation, an entity must:

• Establish a 24-hour center that can receive National Weather Service information
• Have redundant ways to receive weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public
• Create a system that monitors local weather conditions
• Promote the importance of public readiness
• Develop a formal hazardous weather plan

NOAA’s National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts, and warnings for the United States and its territories. NOAA’s National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy. NOAA stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Throughout Kentucky, there are 70 StormReady places; the museum, however, is one of the few non-governmental or school entities in the state with the designation. Nationwide, a combined 371 venues, businesses, and universities have earned the StormReady designation. See http://www.stormready.noaa.gov.