National Weather Service selects Navajo Department of Emergency Management as ambassador of excellence

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — In recognition of their efforts to promote safety and preparedness as well as provide community safety events, the Navajo Department of Emergency Management has been selected as the 2020 Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence by the National Weather Service (NWS).

“Navajo Department of Emergency Management continually promotes weather safety and preparedness in conjunction with the NWS Flagstaff and Albuquerque offices,” stated NWS.

As a WRN Ambassador, Navajo Department of Emergency Management (NNDEM) serve a pivotal role in affecting societal change — helping to build a nation that is ready, responsive, and resilient to the impacts of extreme weather and water events, a recent release stated.

To be officially recognized as a WRN Ambassador, an organization must commit to:

Promoting Weather-Ready Nation messages and themes to their stakeholders;

Engaging with NOAA personnel on potential collaboration opportunities;

Sharing their success stories of preparedness and resiliency and

Serving as an example by educating employees on workplace preparedness.

In conjunction with the NWS Flagstaff and Albuquerque offices, NNDEM promotes weather safety at community evets, such as the Navajo Nation Fair. They also share weather safety outreach material on their Facebook page, namely the weekly weather outlook put together by both NWS Flagstaff and Albuquerque offices.

Furthermore, high-impact weather-related graphics form the NWS are also shared via social media to the communities, which acts as a force multiplier for the communities to prepare.

NNDEM was also recognized for their outreach in promoting safety among vulnerable populations.

“They worked with NWS Flagstaff to distribute the Navajo Cloud Chart among the elders to build trust that NNDEM and the NWS are working in tandem to best serve the Navajo Nation,” the NWS stated. “NNDEM is an outstanding WRN Ambassador and is an excellent force multiplier to help build a weather-ready Navajo Nation.”

The WRN Ambassador initiative is the connecting hub of a vast network of federal, state, and local government agencies; emergency managers and city planners; researchers, the media; the insurance industry; nonprofit organizations; the private sector; and many others who are working together to address the impacts of extreme weather on daily life.

How to become a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador

Any organization across all levels of government, businesses large and small, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and academia can become a WRN Ambassador. The WRN Ambassador initiative is intended for organizations and designed to help serve the public by strengthening our national resilience against extreme weather events.

More information is available at www.weather.gov/wrn.