Pantex Declared StormReady

On the storm-wracked plains of the Texas Panhandle, it pays to be ready for severe weather. The Pantex Plant has risen to that challenge, once again earning recognition from the National Weather Service (NWS) as a StormReady site.

“Pantex was one of the first entities of its kind to become StormReady,” said Jose Garcia, meteorologist in charge of the NWS’s Amarillo office. “Pantex is a special facility, and it is important the public knows it is prepared for severe weather.”

Garcia and other NWS officials were at the plant Wednesday to present Pantex officials with the recertification. He said StormReady status indicates Pantex has the weather sirens, shelters, notification technology and emergency response infrastructure to respond effectively to severe weather.

The StormReady program started in 1999 in Tulsa, Okla., and has since grown to encompass more than 2,000 sites. Pantex was the first nuclear site to earn the designation and remains one of only a handful that has achieved StormReady status.

Alonza Campbell, manager of the Emergency Management Department at Pantex, said the Plant has a long history of working hand-in-hand with the community. Pantex maintains contact with the NWS to anticipate storms and other inclement weather conditions. Pantex even uses and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios to alert residents living near the plant of emergency conditions.

“We recognize that we have a responsibility to our neighbors to be prepared for all types of emergency situations,” Campbell said. “In this part of the country, severe weather is a fact of life and it is one of the potential risks we have to be ready for at all times.”