Blunt Announces Missouri Public
Schools will Receive Weather Radios
JEFFERSON CITY, September 22, 2006-Gov. Matt Blunt announced
every
Missouri public school will receive a Tone Alert Weather Radio as
part of a
national project distributing radios to 80,000 public schools by the
U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
“I am pleased this national project will bring
Missouri’s public schools advanced
severe weather warnings to better protect our school children,”
Blunt said.
“We frequently see severe weather in Missouri, and this special
equipment
will ensure our commitment to help protect lives is continuously met."
State Emergency Management Director Ronald M. Reynolds
said the Tone
Alert Weather Radio distribution program was announced at the National
Emergency Management Association Conference in Alabama.
NOAA will begin shipping the Tone Alert Weather radios
to more than
80,000 public schools in mid-September. Public school principals will
receive
a letter and an instruction manual with each radio. The instruction
manual
will show schools how to obtain the codes for their local area.
In April, Gov. Blunt’s Homeland Security Advisory
Council embraced the Safe
Schools initiative which partners the Department of Health and Senior
Services
with the Missouri School Boards Association to provide a secure online
planning
and training system for emergency preparedness with an emphasis in
contagious
disease and biological and chemical terrorism. The web-based system
is offered
at no cost to all Missouri’s schools both public and private.
More information on programming the Tone Alert Weather Radios is available
at
the NOAA Weather Radio Website: http://www.weather.gov/nwr. The site
features
a sidebar with links to Tone Alert Radio listings by state, coverage
maps, coding
information and information about different Tone Alert Weather Radios.