Board proclaims Severe Weather Awareness Week; NWS warns of local tornado, flooding risks

The Osceola Board of County Commissioners proclaimed the week of February 2025 as Severe Weather Awareness Week and heard from the National Weather Service about local severe-weather risks and preparedness measures.

Will Ulrich, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Melbourne, told the board the agency’s severe weather awareness programs aim to reduce deaths, injuries and property damage across East Central Florida. “Storm Ready is perhaps the most important piece of the severe weather awareness program’s puzzle,” Ulrich said, citing requirements such as an emergency operations plan, multiple ways to receive and disseminate weather information, designated shelter locations and participation in severe-weather drills.

Ulrich reviewed local tornado history, noting the Feb. 22, 1998, Central Florida outbreak that killed 42 people (including 25 in Kissimmee) and the 2007 outbreak that killed 21 people. He said 62 of 63 fatalities from those two outbreaks were occupants of mobile or manufactured homes. “No community is storm proof,” he said. “Programs like Storm Ready and Severe Weather Awareness Week can empower those most vulnerable to the hazards that impact us here locally, and that can certainly help save lives.”

Commissioners recognized local emergency-management staff. The chair identified Bill Linton, the county’s emergency management director, and praised county partnerships with the National Weather Service and the Florida Forest Service. The proclamation was moved and seconded; the chair recorded the vote in the affirmative.