National Severe Weather Preparedness Week: A Growing Partnership

March 3-9, 2013 marks the 2nd annual National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, an outreach and awareness event to highlight the risks of severe weather (including tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, hail, straight line winds), how to take action to become better prepared, and a call to "be an example" by helping others as well. National Severe Weather Preparedness Week was formed in 2012 after the devastating tornado season in 2011 and the NOAA response to build a "Weather-Ready Nation". Weather-Ready Nation attempts to make communities, businesses, and individuals ready, responsive, and resilient. NOAA partners with FEMA, The Weather Channel, and others during this week to get the word out on preparedness. This week is national in scope, and supplements the individual states' preparedness weeks by raising preparedness to the national conscience by engaging national media and US businesses that don't stop at state borders.