This Wednesday, March 28, Greene County public safety agencies will conduct the annual tornado drill across the county. The drill is part of Severe Weather Awareness Week March 26-30.
The drill will begin at 10 am with a tornado watch. All Greene County public safety agencies will be notified of the watch and they will be asked to dispatch their spotters to their assigned positions.
At 10:15 am, a tornado warning will be announced and all outdoor warning sirens will be activated. The drill will end at 10:30.
Weather radios will be activated notifying residents of the watch and warning times. Dennis Morlan, Greene County emergency management and homeland security coordinator, encourages residents to have a weather radio or an app on a smartphone to receiving warnings of changing weather conditions.
In the event of actual severe weather Wednesday, the drill will be postponed to Thursday at 10 am.
Morlan provides the following definitions from the National Weather Service website:
Watch – A NWS product indicating that a particular hazard is possible, i.e., that conditions are ore favorable than usual for its occurrence. A watch is a recommendation for planning, preparation, and increased awareness (i.e., to be alert for changing weather, listen for further information, and think about what to do if the danger materializes)
Warning – A product issued by NWS local offices indicating that a particular weather hazard is either imminent or has been reported. A warning indicates the need to take action to protect life and property. The type of hazard is reflected in the type of warning (i.e., tornado warning, blizzard warning, etc).
“Please make sure you know where your location’s shelter is prior to this drill,” Morlan said. “Use the 30 minutes of this exercise to make sure you know where to go, and the steps to take, when severe weather strikes.”
