The Weather Channel© will continue its efforts to keep the public safe during severe weather by promoting new standardized hashtags developed by the White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Department of Energy (DOE). These hashtags – #GotFuel #NoFuel and #PowerLineDown – will enable local citizens to report important emergency information, such as downed power lines or whether a gas station is open or not, across social media platforms during severe weather events. This information will be used by survivors, first responders, FEMA, DOE and utility companies to improve disaster response and recovery efforts. The hashtags will be featured across The Weather Channel properties on TV, online, on mobile and on social to focus the conversation and inform fans before, during and after a weather emergency.

“Keeping the public safe and informed in times of weather emergencies has always been an important mission at The Weather Channel,” said Bryson Koehler, executive vice president and chief information officer at The Weather Company. “The Weather Channel brand offers great scale to help disseminate this important information, reaching 100 million U.S. television households, 100 million monthly unique visitors on Web and more than 110 million app downloads on smartphones and tablets.”

The Weather Company, parent to The Weather Channel brand, will offer ongoing support of this campaign in the future as well. An upcoming new app focused on hyperlocal weather content will use both open and proprietary data to provide severe weather alerts and forecasts for a user-defined location radius, and it will also incorporate preparedness information relevant to that radius. The app will integrate real-time severe weather data such as NWS alerts, precipitation proximity alerts and lightning data.

The app will include additional preparedness information and tips from the brand’s “Connect with Weather” effort, a co-branded campaign that educates families and communities about the importance of weather preparedness. “Connect with Weather” combines best-in-class weather and science information from The Weather Channel with safety and preparedness tips from some of the nation’s most trusted non-profit and governmental organizations including the American Red Cross, Save the Children, the American Humane Association and NOAA.

The Weather Channel will continue to enhance and refine its resources so that fans remain prepared before, during and after severe weather events. To learn more about weather safety preparedness and creating a plan, visit weather.com/ready.

The Weather Company: Where the World Gets its Weather

Through The Weather Channel, weather.com, Weather Underground, Intellicast.com and third-party publishing partners, the company provides millions of people every day with the world’s best weather forecasts, content and data, connecting with them through television, online, mobile and tablet screens. Through WSI and Weather Central, the company delivers superior professional weather services for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. The Weather Company is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press.