National Weather Service recognizes Town of Owego as 'storm ready'

OWEGO (WBNG) — The Town of Owego was recognized as a “storm ready” town by the National Weather Service on Friday.

The Storm Ready Program is an initiative that strengthens partnerships between emergency managers and the NWS to quickly deliver information to communities.

The NWS said Owego met or exceeded the criteria for communications, alert reception, alert dissemination, weather monitoring, training and administrative issues to achieve storm readiness.

Owego Town Supervisor Donald Castellucci said this recognition is important for the town, noting that the city was facing the 2006 and 2011 Flood disasters.

“Since then, we have definitely made progress in improving our response capabilities and acquiring the tools we need to be better equipped for emergencies,” Castellucci said. “This limits all emergencies, not just floods.

Castellucci said the town is now better equipped to handle flooding.

The Town of Owego recently completed its new Emergency Operations Center, which will make storm preparations and analysis more efficient.

Owego joins Tioga County and Vestal as local communities earning this distinction.

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