Hartsfield-Jackson earns StormReady certification

By Shane Blatt
Senior Public Relations Manager

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) has officially become StormReady, earning the designation after demonstrating weather-related emergency preparedness.

Officials with the National Weather Service, on hand for a press conference Wednesday in the Domestic Terminal atrium, presented ATL leaders with a certificate.

“We are the first airport in Georgia and only the second commercial site in the state to achieve this distinction,” said Michael Smith, ATL’s senior deputy general manager. “With this certification, ATL has demonstrated that it has the necessary tools in place – through planning, education and awareness – to potentially save lives.”

The United States experiences, on average, about 10,000 thunderstorms and 1,000 tornadoes each year, and about 98 percent of all presidentially declared disasters are weather related. Given those statistics, the life-saving benefits of being StormReady are clear, Smith said.

“In the case of a tornado, for instance, this Airport may have just a matter of seconds to respond, notifying airlines, employees and, of course, the traveling public about what actions to take,” said Smith, who stood next to a “We Are StormReady” sign, one of nine that will be placed on roadways throughout the Airport campus.

David Nadler, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service-Peachtree City/Atlanta, said more than 2,500 locations across the U.S. are StormReady, but just a handful of StormReady sites are airports. They include Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Indianapolis International Airport.

“Because of the uniqueness of the various groups that come together to support and make up airport operations, it is a little more challenging to recognize airports as StormReady, which makes this recognition even more special,” Nadler said.

Eligibility guidelines are based on population. Given that ATL is the world’s busiest airport, having served more than 104 million passengers in 2016 alone, Hartsfield-Jackson had to meet the highest standards.

Eligibility requirements include maintaining a 24-hour Emergency Operations Center with redundant methods of receiving, monitoring and relaying National Weather Service information and warnings to the public. It also includes close collaboration between the Airport’s Centralized Command and Control Center, or C4, and meteorologists at the National Weather Service-Peachtree City/Atlanta.

“StormReady means we have made a step forward in improving our readiness levels to be able to respond to emergencies at the Airport and to be able to provide a safer environment for our passengers,” C4 Director Gus Hudson said.

The StormReady program requires renewal every three years.

David Nadler of the National Weather Service presents the StormReady certificate to ATL Senior Deputy General Manager Michael Smith.