Whether it is studying for end-of-semester exams or typing up 10-page term papers, students attending Southwestern Michigan College have a lot to worry about in terms of their academics.

Thanks a partnership between the school and the Cass County Emergency Management office, though, they do not have to worry about being left in the dark in the event a massive storm threatens their safety while on campus.

The National Weather Service recognized the ongoing efforts by the college and the county to protect students and local residents from tornados, thunderstorms and other adverse weather events during Thursday’s meeting of the Cass County Board of Commissioners in Cassopolis.

During the meeting, Michael Lewis, an official with the NWS’ Northern Indiana office, announced that Cass County has became one of the weather service’s official “StormReady” sites, a designation given to communities or institutions that have taken steps to ensuring the public is properly warned in the event of severe weather conditions.

“The beautiful thing about this is that, with a little bit of effort, a little bit of hard work and lot of paperwork, they did it,” Lewis said.

In order to become certified as “StormReady,” both SMC and emergency management had to undertake the following steps:

• Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center.

• Have redundant communications systems to receive severe weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public.

• Create a system that monitors local weather conditions.

• 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.

The designation accomplishes a long sought goal for both college officials and Cass County Emergency Management Director David Smith.

With a little less than 3,000 people studying, working or even living at Southwestern Michigan College’s Dowagiac campus, ensuring the safety of those who use the college’s facilities remains a top priority, said SMC Chief of Staff Tom Atkinson.

“That is the size of some small communities,” Atkinson said. “When people are on campus, we want to make sure that everyone is safe. Storms become our number one concern. The probability of having a storm is much greater than anything else we found.”

Working with Smith and his department, both the college and county now have systems in place that ensure that storms are detected early, through local storm watchers and monitoring centers, as well as systems that notify residents of dangerous weather conditions, including those that operate when power lines go down.

As official “StormReady” sites, the college and county are able to display and produce signage displaying the program’s logo, Lewis said. To celebrate the occasion Thursday, the NWS representative presented a sign signifying their entry into the program.

Both entities will be required to have their operations re-certified in three years, Lewis said.