The week of March 21-25, 2016, has been designated Severe Weather Awareness Week, and Story County Emergency Management, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the National Weather Service (NWS) are teaming up to provide information to the media so they can remind the public that we are moving into the severe weather season and give them valuable information that may save their lives.
The highlight of the week is the statewide tornado drill at 10:15 am on Wednesday, March 23rd when the Des Moines NWS will issue a test tornado warning to test the notification system. This test is designed to ensure severe weather warnings quickly and accurately flow through the system, ending with a test of the outdoor warning sirens in each Story County community. The test will simultaneously be broadcast NOAA weather radios allowing citizens and businesses the opportunity to ensure that their primary indoor warning system, weather radios, are functioning properly. Details of the tornado test are below:
The drill is scheduled for Wednesday March 23, 2016. In case of severe weather, Thursday March 24th is the backup day.
10:00 AM – Test Tornado Watch issued for Iowa (and Nebraska). The test watch will tone alert on NOAA All Hazards Radio.
10:10 AM – NWS Sioux Falls and Omaha issue test tornado warnings for their Iowa counties.
10:15 AM – NWS Des Moines and Quad Cities issue test tornado warnings for their Iowa counties. The test warning will alert on NOAA Weather radio.
10:20 AM – NWS La Crosse issues test tornado warning for their Iowa counties.
10:30-10:35 AM – All Iowa NWS offices issues a Severe Weather Statement to terminate the test warnings.
11:00 AM – Test tornado watch expires.
We encourage everyone to use this test to do more than check your notification systems. If your NOAA weather radio has a battery back-up, this drill should serve as a reminder to change these batteries. Everyone should also review their disaster preparations which should allow them to be self-sufficient for 72 hours in the wake of any disaster or emergency. Business should use this drill to test their procedures to protect the lives of their employees if severe weather strikes during business hours. The test is also a perfect time for businesses to evaluate their plans to continue operations after a storm. Information on assembling disaster kits and business continuity can be located on the Story County Emergency Management website at http://www.storycountyiowa.gov/index.aspx?NID=168 under Disaster & Emergency Preparedness.
Another very valuable source of severe weather information is your smart phone. The National Weather Service now sends warnings of severe weather to properly equipped cell phones within a county impacted by the warning. Everyone can go to the following link Wireless Emergency Alerts for Cell Phones at http://www.ctia.org/your-wireless-life/consumer-tips/wireless-emergency-alerts to see if their cell phones have this capability. If this capability isn’t built into the phone, users are encourage to contact their provider or go on-line to see if there is an application that can be downloaded to do this function. The National Weather Service also has a website optimized for mobile devices which can be accessed through smart phones at mobile.weather.gov and then simply enter your location.
Story County Emergency Management looks forward to working with our local media outlets to provide this valuable information and we can work one on one with interested partners to develop news events to meet your needs. We can also be followed through Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/storycountyema which is being used for public education and Emergency Management activities.
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