ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor is now officially prepared for whatever the weather – or anything else – might bring. The National Weather Service declared Ann Arbor “StormReady” on Friday, Nov. 14, as part of an official launch of the city’s new emergency operations center.
The center, in the Ann Arbor Fire Department’s downtown station, works as a central hub for crisis or emergency weather situations. The city has not had a dedicated emergency center space for 20 years and has been operating virtually, said Mike Kennedy, chief of the Ann Arbor Fire Department.
“There’s only so much a person can do on a laptop screen,” Kennedy said. “This just provides much more situational awareness. It gets people in the same room.”…