Evansville casino awarded ‘StormReady’ designation
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Bally’s Evansville Casino & Hotel is the first casino in the country to receive a special designation from the National Weather Service.
The casino has been awarded the StormReady accreditation for the steps it has taken to develop a severe weather safety program.
Chris Mayton, risk and safety manager for Bally’s Evansville, told our partners at WEHT-TV the designation was a high priority for the casino.
“We are always evaluating our programs and procedures to be as safe and secure as possible here at Bally’s,” Mayton said. “And that was just another step up to bring our program up to higher standards. We have a notification system that we get in touch with everybody on our property pretty well within minutes, actually seconds.”
In order to earn the StormReady designation, the casino had to fulfill five tasks:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center
- Have more than one way to receive severe weather warnings and forecasts and to alert the public
- Create a system that monitors weather conditions locally
- Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars
- Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
Mayton said the casino already had several of the requirements in place, including its notification system called Everbridge.
Christine Wielgos, a meteorologist with the NWS in Paducah, Kentucky, told WEHT the designation is a victory for public safety.
“If you’ve lived here long enough, you know we have plenty of severe weather,” Wielgos said. “So anything you can do to help boost your immunity to these hazardous weather events is always going to be a win-win situation.”
The accreditation will last for four years, and Bally’s Evansville will be able to re-certify every four years.