JEFFERSON PARISH SELECTED AS 'STORM READY' COMMUNITY

JEFFERSON, LA – The National Weather Service (NWS) has re-recognized Jefferson Parish as a StormReady Community, stating that the Parish continues to do everything possible to improve emergency first responder and citizen preparedness in the event of a natural disaster.

“It’s an honor to receive this recognition, which is possible because of the dedication and coordination between the Jefferson Parish Administration, our Fire Departments, various law enforcement agencies and our Emergency Management team,” said Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Director Joe Valiente. “The Parish had to demonstrate a level of compliance and preparedness for monitoring current weather conditions and issuing the appropriate warnings to the public. This is something we take very seriously and it couldn’t be done without the help of everyone involved.”

To be named a StormReady Community, Jefferson Parish had to apply and certify that the Parish has established a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center, provides multiple severe weather warnings and forecasts to alert the public, has a system in place to monitor weather conditions locally, promotes the importance of public readiness through community seminars, and develops a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises. The Jefferson Parish Emergency Management team conducted 18 outreach seminars focusing on best practices for before, during and after a storm, in addition to four preparedness exercises.

The Jefferson Parish Emergency Management Department serves as the Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness with jurisdiction over the entire parish, including the municipalities of Grand Isle, Gretna, Harahan, Kenner, Lafitte and Westwego. This StormReady recognition remains in effect until November 2027 when Jefferson Parish will need to apply to renew its status. As of November 2, 2023, there were 24 StormReady parishes across Louisiana. For more information about this certification, visit www.weather.gov/stormready.

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net. Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on social media (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.

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Jefferson Parish Public Information Office

1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002

Jefferson, LA 70123

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Gretchen Hirt Gendron, PIO