Over the past few years, Philadelphia has experienced several destructive severe weather and flooding events, including a derecho in June 2020, Tropical Storm Isais in 2020, Hurricane Ida in 2021, as well as numerous localized flooding events across the city.
Climate change projections estimate that severe weather will only continue to get stronger and more frequent over time.
That is why this May, we want to let you know what we do to prepare and plan for severe weather with our local, state, and federal partners. We also encourage residents to participate in preparing for severe weather to better protect themselves, their property, and their loved ones.
All month long, we will be hosting and engaging in a series of internal training as well as public outreach events focused on informing you on how to better stay safe before, during, and after a severe weather incident.
Take a look at what OEM is doing and the events you can take part in during Severe Weather Preparedness Month.
How OEM is preparing for the 2022 Severe Weather Season
Annual Severe Weather Plan Update and Workshop
Each year, Philadelphia Office of Emergency reviews and updates our citywide Severe Weather Plan. This plan outlines a citywide strategy for preparing for and responding to severe weather events like thunderstorms, tornadoes, wind, flooding, and tropical cyclones. This May, OEM will be convening our local response partners for our annual Severe Weather Workshop, giving each agency an opportunity to talk through their plans for preparation, response, and recovery. In this workshop, The National Weather Service (NWS) will provide our team with an outlook on this severe weather season to help us prepare for upcoming weather.
2022 All-Hazard Mitigation Plan Presented to City Council
Philadelphia’s 2022 All-Hazard Mitigation Plan outlines citywide mitigation goals and objectives and identifies a prioritized list of projects, plans, and policies the City can implement to reduce our risk to both natural and human-caused hazards. The updated plan is currently being reviewed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will go in front of City Council for final approval and adoption this May! Learn more about the City’s plan here.
Flood Risk Management Taskforce
OEM is an active participant in Philadelphia’s Flood Risk Management Taskforce (FRMTF), which will be convening for a meeting this May! The FRMTF is a task force made of several City agencies that convenes on a quarterly basis to collaborate on ways to address flooding and its impacts across the City of Philadelphia. To learn more about the task force and flooding in Philadelphia, please see A Guide to Flooding in Philadelphia.
What you can do to participate in Severe Weather Preparedness Month!
Trivia Tuesday on Twitter, Tuesdays May 1-31
Follow OEM on Twitter to participate in severe weather themed trivia. Answer the question correctly and be entered to win a go-bag with essential items you’ll need during an emergency. There will be one winner every Tuesday. To make your own go-bag, start here www.phila.gov/ready.
Community Chat Session, May 3 from 11am-11:30am
Join us LIVE on OEM’s Facebook for a community chat focused on Severe Weather! OEM will discuss the citywide Severe Weather Response Plan and what the City does to prepare and respond to weather events each season. The Community Preparedness program will also review actions community members can take to prepare their households.
ReadyPhiladelphia
Get free text alerts and emails through our ReadyPhiladelphia program for NWS alerts and critical info from the City. Text READYPHILA to 888-777 for alerts to your phone or visit the ReadyPhiladelphia section on our website to customize your email or text alerts for locations important to you.
Newsletters
Get severe weather safety tips all year long by signing up for our ReadyPhiladelphia newsletters. Have helpful preparedness tips and info sent straight to your inbox every month http://bit.ly/workshopready
Workshops
Schedule preparedness workshops for your community or business. The Office of Emergency Management offers emergency preparedness workshops to civic associations, faith-based groups, senior centers, town watch, and other residential groups of 20 or more people.
Website resources
As always, you can visit Phila.gov/ready to start preparing for disasters now, by downloading a family emergency plan, home emergency kit checklist, and many more resources.
If you are participating in a Severe Weather Preparedness Month event tag your tweets and Facebook posts using #SevereWxPHL!
