Wisconsin's Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week, Part 1
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015 -- 11:34 AM
-This week is Wisconsin's Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week.John Ross, Clark County's Emergency Management Director, talked about this week being an opportunity for residents, businesses and more to practice their severe weather shelter procedures. He also explained the mock tornado watch and warning being held this Thursday.
He said, "Every year, Wisconsin observes Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week. It's an opportunity for residents to practice their severe weather shelter procedures. A great opportunity for businesses and schools to practice as well. Thursday, April 16th, there will be the statewide tornado drill. A mock tornado watch will be issued at about 1pm and will be followed up with a mock tornado warning at approximately 1:45pm. The Clark County Communications Center will be going through their procedures so they will be activating outdoor warning sirens. NOAA All Hazards Radios, or weather radios as people know them, will also be activated, so you'll hear the warning and watch issued on them. If the skies are cloudy or it's rainy the drill will go on as scheduled. However, if severe weather is expected in the stated then the drill will be postponed until Friday. If there's severe weather on Friday, the drill will be canceled."
"It's an excellent opportunity, even if you can't participate at between 1 and 1:45, if you're at home just sit down and review your shelter areas in your house and know where to go and maybe practice going there, ideally, you'll take the time to do that. It's important to know where to go if you're at work or if you're in school or if you're outside. Tornadoes are most common in Wisconsin in the spring and early summer. But, as we found out last week, they can happen anytime. It was interesting we were getting snow in the northern part of the state and tornado warnings issued in the southern part of the state. So, it's just something to be aware of and pay attention to."
Coming up on Wednesday, John offers tips on what should be practiced during the drill on Thursday.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.