The WARN program (weather awareness for a rural nation) is a program geared specifically toward the Amish community.

The WARN project (Weather Awareness for a Rural Nation) is being developed in response to a tragic incident that occurred this past spring where an Amish mother attempted to cross a flooded low water crossing, loosing five children that were with her that evening.  All of the material and programming is being specifically developed to educate the Amish population.  The material addresses a number of weather related situations and steps that can be taken to keep families safe. References in the material are being specifically written to address the Amish life style.  

The Amish communities are quickly growing throughout Bath and surrounding counties, contributing to a more diverse agricultural industry in the area.  The Amish are a mobile population, utilizing county roads, facilities and patronizing many local businesses adding significantly to the success of many agriculture related industries. 

   Even though Amish families shop and work along side their English neighbors, they still remain somewhat a closed society and are sometimes hard to reach.  The Amish in the area tend to work and live in small tight nit communities with an elder/Bishop that oversees the activities of the group.  It is interesting that the Amish in one community may not have any interaction with Amish neighbors living in close proximity in the same county.  

    During the early part of the pandemic, extension and other agencies were able to continue providing programming and assistance through technology such as virtual meetings.  In many cases, this new technology allowed extension to impact a whole new clientele group.  However, this new approach and our technology still does not allow us to meet some vulnerable audiences such as the Amish.  

The Amish do not use electricity within their homes and do not have access to emergency alert equipment in their homes or within their communities.  These unique traits make it especially hard to provide instant/current emergency weather or other emergency information to these families.  

    The Amish have been active in participating in local markets and attending certifications that are required in order to participate in these markets.  However, it is more difficult to attract significant numbers of this population to production meetings, even though efforts have been made to provide programs in various locations in the county where Amish communities are located.  

Written material is the first phase of the project.  The documents are designed to be short, fun and to the point.  Pamphlets are written for a specific weather event and are designed to be presented at various times of the year, depending on the season.  There are informational handouts geared for adults, but handouts have also been developed for youth.  

In the second phase of this program,  Bath County has written a grant to provide each Amish home with a battery powered, solar rechargeable weather radio as a way for them to have the most current information related to weather emergencies and weather forecast information.  The Amish leaders that we have discussed this with have indicated that this would be an acceptable program.  

The third phase is to develop two different types of educational programming.  The first would be a stand alone program directed to the Amish communities and would be conducted in cooperation with the National Weather Centers in the Amish communities themselves.  The second program would be a shorter, informational program related to weather events that typically occur during that particular time of year.  This information would be shared in conjunction with already developed extension educational programs and would be a complimentary program.

The WARN project is currently focused on the Amish communities due to the unique challenges in getting current safety and weather information to them in order to prevent more tragic events like we had this spring, the material can eventually be repurposed to meet the needs of other audiences that are consistently hard to reach through normal programming channels.  

It is the hope that developing this program specifically for the Amish in our community, we will be able to provide them with much needed weather and safety information that may help prevent another avoidable tragedy and it is our hope that this program will attract this population to other extension programs that would be a benefit to their farm and family.   Developing this program has also allowed the members of this committee to have more personal interaction with Amish leadership and will hopefully build a stronger relationship between the Amish and the English in the community.

Phase one, which is the safety publications, has just been completed and these documents are being distributed to the regional directors in late November.  The committee hopes to have the next two phases of the program in place in early 2022 in time for winter meetings and before the spring severe weather season.  This approach, if successful, may open up an avenue to present even more varieties of information to the Amish in our communities.