County ready to weather
what Mother Nature hands out
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Aroostook County is of the first two New England counties to achieve Storm Ready certification.
Granted Storm Ready distinction at the same time as Washington County, the certification ensures that Aroostook County has established a 24-hour warming point and emergency operations center, has more that one method of receiving severe weather forecasts and warnings and alerting the public, has created a system that monitors local weather conditions, promotes the significance of public readiness through community seminars and has developed a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes having trained severe weather spotters and holding training exercises.
Some local towns and cities have already achieved Storm Ready distinction, but getting the biggest county east of the Mississippi River ready to handle anything Mother Nature could throw at it was quite an undertaking.
“To achieve Storm Ready certification at a county level takes a bit more effort [than a city or town],” said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Caribou office Meteorologist in Charge Hendricus Lulfos.
Lulfos and Warning Coordination Meteorologist Mike Cantin officially presented the Storm Ready certificates and roadside signs to the Aroostook County Commissioners during their meeting last Wednesday.
During his presentation, Lulfos also commended Aroostook County Emergency Management Director Vern Ouellette and Northern Lakes Fire Chief Darren Woods for their tireless labor in ensuring compliance to Storm Ready specifications. Commissioner Chair Paul Underwood echoed the sentiment.
Not only is Aroostook one of the first counties to be Storm Ready, Aroostook County is also home to part of the international World Acadian Congress (WAC) in 2014.
Now that the official announcement has been made that the 2014 WAC will be hosted in northern Maine, northwestern New Brunswick and southeastern Quebec, President of the Maine Delegation of the 2014 WAC Organizing Committee Jason Parent was also present at the May 5 County Commissioners meeting to present a status update and discuss funding with the commissioners.
“I cannot overstate the importance of this event,” Parent told the commissioners. It is estimated that the 2014 WAC will have up to a $50 million economic impact on the hosting and surrounding communities.
According to Parent, the WAC organizing committee has been asking communities and regions to contribute $1 per head for the next four years until the 2014 WAC.
Commissioners Underwood and Paul Adams approved funding the 2014 WAC $1,000 for the next three years. Though a schedule conflict kept commissioner Norman Fournier from attending the meeting, County Administrator Douglas Beaulieu discussed the 2014 WAC with Fournier prior to the meeting and was able to report that Fournier expressed his approval to help fund the event.
The next meeting of the Aroostook County Commissioners is scheduled for next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Houlton.
