(June 5, 2004) -- The town of Wadley, Ala. was recognized by the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in
Birmingham as the first FloodReady community in Alabama and the nation.
This recognition followed several months of work by the community to satisfy criteria necessary to obtain this designation.
Spearheading the effort was the Wadley FloodReady Group, which included Dale Knight, Greg and Debbie Roberts, Keith McGuire,
Police Chief Larry Lacy, Mayor Frank Reeves and Town Councilman Elliot Cotney.
The FloodReady program is being developed by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Birmingham and partners -- including
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Geological Survey, the Alabama State Emergency Management Agency, the
Alabama Department of Transportation, Alabama Power Company and the NWS Southeast River Forecast Center -- to help
communities minimize the loss of life and property during flood events. With the assistance of the NWS and its partners,
local communities, develop Flood Action Plans, educate the local community about flooding and flood safety and work to
increase public awareness.
Communities must satisfy a set of criteria to be recognized as FloodReady. The criteria includes developing a local flood
action plan and communications network, identifying flood prone areas, establishing an Emergency Operation Center and 24
hour point of contact and establishing a local spotters network. They must also conduct public flood education on an
annual basis once the community has been recognized as FloodReady.
As part of the recognition activities, Wadley held a fair where booths and exhibits by the FloodReady partners and other
groups and agencies were on display in the downtown area. Some of the participants included the Abanda Volunteer Fire
Department, the Corinth Volunteer Fire Department, the Wadley Fire Department, the Randolph County Sheriff's program and
the Randolph County DARE program.
The official recognition ceremony took place on the steps of the Wadley City Hall. At that time, Senior Service
Hydrologist Roger McNeil, representing Meteorologist-in-Charge Ken Graham of the Birmingham National Weather Service
Forecast Office and the other partners of the FloodReady program, presented a plaque to Mayor Frank Reeves recognizing
Wadley as a FloodReady community. Officials present for the ceremony included Randolph County Commissioner Lathonia
Wright, Wadley Police Chief Larry Lacy and Wadley Fire Chief Dale Knight.
Partners present for the ceremony included Memphis Vaughan, Chief, Water Management Section, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers; Charles Stover, Supervisor of Reservoir Management, Alabama Power Company; John Feldt, Hydrologist-in-Charge
of the Southeast River Forecast Center in Peachtree City, GA.; Dave Poundstone, Region Four Coordinator for the Alabama
State Emergency Management Agency; and Michael Garrison, FloodReady Program Leader, National Weather Service, Birmingham.
Randolph Co. Emergency Management Director Donnie Knight, who coordinated many of the activities between Wadley and the
FloodReady partners, was also present.
Partners that were unable to attend the ceremony included Ron Newsome of the Alabama State Department of Transportation
and Rick Treece and Vic Stickland of the United States Geological Survey.
If you are interested in your community becoming the next FloodReady community, you can obtain more information by
contacting Jim Stefkovich, Meteorologist-in-Charge (jim.stefkovich@noaa.gov), Roger McNeil, Senior Service Hydrologist
(roger.mcneil@noaa.gov) or Michael Garrison, FloodReady Program Leader (michael.garrison@noaa.gov) at 205-664-3010.
www.weather.gov 
National Weather Service Forecast Office
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