NOAA HONORS SIXTEEN
FOR SUPPORTING NOAA WEATHER RADIO
Sixteen Mark Trail Awards were presented
to individuals, associations and local governments for their
efforts to expand the NOAA
Weather Radio coverage across the nation, and make the portable
device, which broadcasts severe storm warnings, more accessible.
In some cases, the radio warnings helped award recipients act
quickly to save lives as tornadoes threatened.
At a Capitol Hill ceremony, Scott
B. Gudes, NOAA's acting administrator said, "NOAA Weather
Radio has been the link between life and death, and the efforts
of these award recipients demonstrates the urgency of having
up-to-the-second information before a potentially dangerous storm
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jack
Kelly, director of NOAA's National
Weather Service, lauded the award winners, saying, "Your
consistent resolve to expand NOAA Weather Radio coverage and
make citizens more aware of what it can do to protect lives and
property is making a difference." He added, "The other
lesson some of this year's recipients show is warnings mean nothing
unless citizens are prepared to act."
In its fifth year, the Mark Trail Awards
are presented to individuals, local governments, organizations
and corporations, highlighting their community actions, gifts,
and response to NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts, which exemplify
the radio's lifesaving benefits.
Mark Trail, a syndicated comic strip published
in approximately 175 newspapers, has been the "official"
spokesman for NOAA Weather Radio since 1997. Jack Elrod, the
creator, writer and illustrator for Mark Trail, became involved
with NOAA Weather Radio in1995, featuring it in a Sunday comic
Below is the list of the 2001 Mark Trail
- Sabrina Duckworth, Jasper County, Miss.,
for her quick action following a tornado warning broadcast across
NOAA Weather Radio. She alerted her mother, who called family
members, friends, and neighbors. The fast action helped spare
lives from the tornado.
- Robert Cashdollar, of Cashdollar, Jones,
and Associates in Washington, D.C., for his role in forming a
partnership between NOAA's weather service and the USDA Rural
Utilities Service. Cashdollar's efforts have helped millions
of people in rural America obtain access to NOAA Weather Radio.
- James Pitchford, Emergency Management
Director, Macoupin County, Ill., for using a $50,000 Illinois
First Grant to improve NOAA Weather Radio and weather communications
in Macoupin, Greene, and Montgomery counties. Through his efforts,
NOAA Weather Radio receivers are used extensively throughout
- Kieth Williams, Superintendent of Schools,
Beebe, Ark., postponed a basketball game and evacuated 300 spectators
after he heard a tornado warning broadcast on NOAA Weather Radio.
An hour after the gym was cleared, it was leveled by a tornado.
- Communication Services for the Deaf, Aberdeen,
S. D., for arranging contributions to purchase 23 NOAA Weather
Radio receivers for the deaf and hard-of-hearing residents of
Aberdeen and Brown County.
- Northern Electric Cooperative, Bath, S.
D., for using its monthly publication, Connections, to promote
and sell NOAA Weather Radio receivers at cost to its members.
The promotion expanded the number of homes, schools, churches,
and businesses that receive severe weather awareness on a timely
basis to protect life and property.
- Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative,
Palmyra, Mo. for donating three NOAA Weather Radio transmitters
and back-up power supply to the weather service. The transmitters
provide NOAA Weather Radio coverage to 10 counties in northeast
Missouri that could not previously receive the broadcasts.
- National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
Arlington, Va., for donating more than 30 NOAA Weather Radio
transmitters and ample tower space for antennas.
- National Safety Council, Washington, D.C.,
for its support of NOAA Weather Radio through various safety
venues through their member organizations.
- Illinois Emergency Management Agency for
using its "Surviving Tornadoes through Awareness and Reaction"
program to distribute 7,925 NOAA Weather Radio receivers throughout
Illinois during the past two years.
- Iowa Emergency Management Agency for its
support of NOAA Weather Radio expansion. The agency provided
four transmitters to the weather service, has six more scheduled
for installment, and funding for an additional 12 transmitters
that will provide 95-100 percent NOAA Weather Radio coverage
for the state of Iowa.
- State of Oklahoma Operation Warn Team
for its work with Wal-Mart and a commercial NOAA Weather Radio
supplier to make 100,000 Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)-equipped
NOAA Weather Radio receivers available to the general public
at a substantially reduced price.
- Tennessee State Emergency Management for
bringing NOAA Weather Radio to every school in the state, within
the range of a NOAA Weather Radio transmitter.
- Missouri Emergency Management Agency for
its support of the NOAA Weather Radio expansion program and providing
nearly $1 million to cover the cost of transmitter installations.
So far, 10 transmitters have been donated, with seven more to
be installed by mid-summer 2001. Ultimately, 26 transmitters
will be installed and donated to the weather service, bringing
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts to nearly 100 percent of Missouri
- Dare County, North Carolina for its gift
of a NOAA Weather Radio transmitter.
- Beaufort C. Katt, deputy director for
the Missouri Emergency Management Agency, for his personal initiative
in garnering support from state and local emergency management
for the weather service's NOAA Weather Radio Cooperator Expansion