Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and 农夫导航 President Susan M. Donovan discuss the university's severe weather preparedness.
农夫导航鈥檚 efforts to prepare for severe weather have earned it the National Weather Service鈥檚 .
Bellarmine is the to earn the designation, joining six state universities as StormReady campuses.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and John Gordon - the chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service鈥檚 Louisville office - joined Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine鈥檚 president, to celebrate the recognition.
鈥淎s Louisvillians know all too well, the threat of severe weather is an ongoing concern for our community,鈥� said Fischer. 鈥淔rom a public safety perspective, it鈥檚 critical to understand the risk and have effective plans in place to minimize the possibility of harm to people and property. Bellarmine has taken great steps to align their severe weather plans with national best practices and Louisville Metro鈥檚 own response plan. That鈥檚 great news for the campus community and it鈥檚 also beneficial to the city."
Fischer noted that Louisville was recognized as StormReady community in 2015.
As a StormReady campus, Bellarmine meets or exceeds a set of standards regarding monitoring, communicating and responding to the threat of dangerous weather, such as severe storms, tornadoes, flooding, excessive snow and extreme temperatures. To maintain the StormReady designation, Bellarmine鈥檚 Office of Public Safety has committed to keeping its severe weather emergency operations plan up to date, identifying shelter locations, conducting tornado drills and other training, havingi multiple methods to communicate severe weather alerts, and monitoring hazardous weather information every day of the year.
鈥淥ver the past 10 years, several university campuses have been struck by tornadoes,鈥� said Joe Sullivan, the National Weather Service鈥檚 warning coordination meteorologist. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a matter of if one will strike again, but when. With 10 tornadoes touching down in Louisville during that same time frame, the threat is always here. Bellarmine is doing everything right to ensure that if one does hit the campus, their staff and students will know what to do to minimize their risk of being harmed.鈥�
Beyond the threat of severe weather, Bellarmine鈥檚 Office of Public Safety has recently taken other steps to keep the campus community safe, including:
- Developing the university鈥檚 first-ever comprehensive emergency operations plan, using the National Incident Management System as a framework to ensure seamless communication with the city鈥檚 emergency responders during a campus or city-wide emergency.
- Conducting a full-scale active aggressor simulation in 2017, in partnership with Louisville Metro Emergency Services.
- Posting clear instructions for emergency scenarios in every building and classroom.
- Leading ongoing training sessions for the campus community on topics including active aggressor scenarios and CPR.
