MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Wisconsin residents are urged to spend some time this week preparing for the worst.
Governor Scott Walker has declared April 17-21 as ‘Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week’ in the Badger State.
On Thursday, two mock tornado warnings are scheduled to allow people to practice their emergency plans.
The first warning is set for 1:45 pm, with a mock match to be issued at 1 pm.
A second warning at 6:45 pm is meant to give families a chance to put their at-home drill to the test.
Mock alerts will be issued on NOAA Weather Radios, and many communities will sound their tornado sirens at those times.
If actual severe weather is expected Thursday, the drills will be postponed until the same times the following day. They will be canceled if severe storms are also expected Friday.
The mock alerts will take place even if the sky is cloudy, dark, and/or rainy.
State Emergency Management Public Information Officer Tod Pritchard says this week is a good time for people to prepare for severe weather.
When the sirens do sound, he urges people to “listen, act, and live.”
Pritchard notes people should “listen for that warning and then take action quickly. You’re going to have a much better chance of surviving.
He encourages residents to suppress the basic human instinct of first wanting to obtain more information about what is happening.
While Pritchard says seeking shelter in a basement is the best course of action once the emergency sirens sound, he notes there is an alternative.
“Get underneath any kind of solid furniture, anything that you can put between yourself and the possible debris falling on top of you.”
In case disaster does strike a person’s home, Pritchard says it is necessary to be prepared for ‘survival mode.’
He encourages all residents to have extra food and water on hand along with a first-aid kid, necessary medications, and baby or pet supplies, if applicable.
Pritchard also urges people to purchase a weather radio, which keep people informed of developments during severe storms.
The National Weather Service says Wisconsin averages 23 tornadoes per year.
Pritchard says the state had 17 in 2015 and 16 in 2016, all of those being low-level tornadoes.
