This project seeks to enhance risk awareness and strengthen the capacity of southeastern communities to respond effectively to severe weather hazards through sustained engagement and cocreation of…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a Cooperative Agreement totaling $492,352 to the University of Southern Mississippi on July 1, 2026, under the Sea Grant Support program (CFDA 11.417). The award funds a four-year project running through June 30, 2030, based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, that enhances risk awareness and community capacity to respond to severe weather hazards in the Southeast through sustained engagement informed by research spanning physical and social sciences.

The recipient will implement seven coordinated initiatives: WeatherWise Train-the-Trainer will equip library staff, university and junior college partners, and local volunteers with practical training and digital resources for disseminating severe weather preparedness information; WeatherWise Content Creation Internships will engage journalism and media students in producing accessible preparedness content; WeatherWise Youth Train-the-Trainer will mobilize high school and youth organization volunteers (including Boys and Girls Clubs and ROTC) as peer educators; an interactive WeatherWise digital platform will deliver weekly website updates, social media content, monthly video summaries, and newsletters; a webinar series and companion extension publications will explain critical weather monitoring technologies including weather balloons, satellites, and storm spotter networks; a Tornado Summit will convene interdisciplinary experts to identify solutions for gaps in tornado sheltering practices and protection of vulnerable structures, particularly mobile and manufactured homes; and layered GIS mapping will visualize spatial relationships between manufactured home parks, shelter resources, and emergency management infrastructure.

Activities

Over a fouryear period, the program will implement a series of coordinated initiatives: (1) weatherwise trainthetrainer will provide library staff, university/junior college partners, and local volunteers with practical training and digital resources to disseminate severe weather preparedness information; (2) weatherwise content creation internships will offer journalism and media students opportunities to apply and expand communication skills by producing accessible, impactful content; (3) weatherwise youth trainthetrainer will engage high school and youth organization volunteers (e.g., boys and girls clubs, rotc) as peer educators to amplify preparedness messaging; (4) an interactive weatherwise digital platform will deliver weekly website updates, social media content, monthly video summaries, and newsletters to facilitate community access to preparedness materials; (5) a webinar series and companion extension publications will explain critical weather monitoring technologies such as weather balloons, satellites, and storm spotter networks, enhancing public understanding of how severe weather alerts are generated; (6) a tornado summit will convene interdisciplinary experts to identify solutions for gaps in tornado sheltering practices and the protection of vulnerable structures, particularly mobile and manufactured homes; (7) layered GIS mapping will visualize the spatial relationship between manufactured home parks, shelter resources, and emergency services to inform preparedness planning; (8) a sixmonth behaviorchange campaign leveraging the nextdoor platform will assess and promote tornado preparedness behaviors at the community level; (9) communitybased assessments will identify barriers to shelter access, leading to the codevelopment of localized solutions and communication tools aimed at improving shelter decisionmaking; (10) establishment of an advisory council composed of experts from federal, state, and local agencies, nonprofits, academia, and industry to provide strategic guidance to the program; (11) development of publicprivate partnerships to enhance preparedness, response, and recovery efforts; (12) expanded collaboration with national weather service offices to deliver targeted engagement activities (e.g., open houses, webinars, trainings) focused on atrisk populations; and (13) a comprehensive evaluation and reporting framework to document impacts, measure behavioral changes, assess resource leveraging, and communicate outcomes to NOAA leadership.

Expected outcomes

Outcomes include improved sheltering behavior, communityspecific tools scalable across the southeast, and strengthened public understanding of severe weather technologies. Activities will foster crosssector collaboration, reveal shelter access and vulnerability gaps, and enhance public education.

Intended beneficiaries

Public librarians, educators, library patrons, volunteers, journalism students, emergency managers, planners, policymakers, residents of manufactured housing, built environment professionals, and disaster resilience researchers.