Mock Tornado Drill on Thursday for Wisconsin's Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 -- 11:50 AM
-Clark County Emergency Management, Wisconsin Emergency Management, ReadyWisconsin and the National Weather Service have teamed up for Wisconsin?s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week, this week, April 21st-25th.John Ross, Clark County Emergency Management Director, talked about the mock tornado watch and warning taking place next week.
John said, "The tornado drill itself is planned for Thursday, April 24th. There will be a mock tornado watch issued state wide at around 1pm and at approximately 1:45 then a mock tornado warning will be issued. If there is severe weather in the state of Wisconsin on Thursday, the drill will be postponed until Friday. If there's bad weather on Friday, then the drill will be canceled. Having said that, if there's cloudy skies, the drill will go on as planned, as long as there is no severe weather in the area."
There are other hazards people need to be aware about when it comes to tornados and severe storms.
"Anytime we experience thunderstorms there's always that risk of lightening," said John. "If you're close enough to hear the thunder, you're close enough to get struck by lightening. Safety with lightening becomes very important. In a severe thunderstorm, you can have large hail, you can have high winds. Just being outside and having that hail strike you can cause injury. Anytime there's strong winds, you can have either debris being blown around or you can have tree limbs or tree branches, which could fall, which could create a threat to your safety. It's important to take thunderstorms seriously."
John said there are many things you can do to be prepared.
John said, "One of the biggest things that people can do, is know where they're going to get their information from. I highly recommend a NOAA All Hazards Radio. You can find those at most retail outlets. They're relatively in expensive. Know your local media contacts. Know where your shelter is. Don't wait until the possible last moment to get to a safe area."
Once again that mock tornado watch and warning will occur on Thursday, April 24th between 1pm-2pm.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.