Tornado week is April 16-20
April 16-20 is Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin, and a statewide drill is planned for Thursday, with the National Weather Service issuing a mock tornado watch at 1 p.m. and a statewide mock tornado warning at 1:45 p.m. The drill on Thursday will include interruption of broadcast radio, TV and cable stations and tone-alerting of the test watch and warning on NOAA weather radios. For the first time, radio, television and cable stations across Wisconsin will participate in the drill. And for the first time, NOAA Weather Radios (also known as Emergency Weather Radios) will be tested during the drill.
By Tere Dunlap
tdunlap@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Don't ignore a neighborhood siren - that's the advice emergency management officials want residents to remember.
"Monroe residents should know that the sirens in the neighborhoods are not used to alert firefighters. Only the downtown siren is used for that purpose," said Daryl Rausch, Monroe's fire chief and emergency management director the City of Monroe.
"If the siren in your neighborhood is sounding, it means that a severe storm is imminent," he stressed. "The most important thing you can do in a severe weather situation is to take shelter in a protected area of your home."
The message to pay attention to storm warning sirens is part of ReadyWisconsin, a preparedness program at Wisconsin Emergency Management. The program urges everyone to heed its motto: "Listen, Act and Live."
Safety is the key issue. A National Weather Service study on the tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., in May 2011, reveals why, despite tornado warnings, it was one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history: A majority of residents did not immediately seek shelter when warnings were issued. On that fateful day, Joplin area residents needed between two and nine warnings before taking action and seeking shelter, stopping first to look in the sky, get information from a TV or call a friend. The massive Enhanced F-5 level storm bearing down on them with winds of more than 200 mph killed 161 people and injured more than 1,000.
Such severe weather could happen here as well. According to National Weather Service data, Green County saw nine tornadoes between 1982 and 2011, and Lafayette County had 18. Fortunately, no one was killed, but 12 persons in Lafayette County were injured. During the same period, Dane County experienced 42 tornadoes, the highest in the state, which resulted in two deaths and 61 people injured.
Wisconsin averages 23 tornadoes annually, and while its peak tornado season is from April to August, tornadoes can occur any time of year, such as the storms that hit near Kenosha on Jan. 7, 2008.
The NWS confirmed 38 tornadoes in Wisconsin in 2011, the fourth highest number annually on record for the state. The earliest outbreak that year occurred on April 10, and on Aug. 19, another tornado with winds of 105 mph struck Marinette County, killing one man. Five people were injured in 2011.
The second greatest yearly number of tornadoes on state record occurred in 2010, when 46 tornadoes were confirmed. No one was killed, but 22 people were injured, and the tornadoes caused nearly $30 million in property damage.
Preparing for the Storm Aftermath
Monroe's emergency management system is designed to collaborate with the Green County emergency management system.
The framework for emergency action plans is basically the same for the city and the county, according to Green County Emergency Management Director Richard Wyttenbach.
If a tornado should hit the community, officials open and staff an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate all emergency response functions after the storm passes or possibly even before, Rausch said.
"Firefighters and police officers will be canvassing the affected area and reporting back to the Emergency Operations Center (about) what help is needed and where it is needed," he explained. "The city also has plans to bring emergency responders from other areas of the state or surrounding states, if needed.
The city has identified shelter locations and has pre-staged relief supplies in the city to assist residents who have been affected, Rausch said.
But while the Red Cross and other agencies will assist, in the event of a major disaster all residents should be prepared to sustain their families for up to 72 hours until state and federal resources arrive.
That's why "each family should have an emergency kit with contents appropriate to their family," Rausch said.
Rausch recommends using an emergency kit checklist available at www.fema.gov/pdf/library/fdsk.pdf. Suggested items for a disaster supply kit include one gallon of drinking water per person per day; a supply of ready-to-eat canned foods; a first aid kit; clothing and blankets or sleeping bags; and special items such as baby formula and diapers or prescriptions. The website also includes information on how to create a family disaster plan.
More information on emergency preparedness can be found at http://readywisconsin.wi.gov.
tdunlap@ themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Don't ignore a neighborhood siren - that's the advice emergency management officials want residents to remember.
"Monroe residents should know that the sirens in the neighborhoods are not used to alert firefighters. Only the downtown siren is used for that purpose," said Daryl Rausch, Monroe's fire chief and emergency management director the City of Monroe.
"If the siren in your neighborhood is sounding, it means that a severe storm is imminent," he stressed. "The most important thing you can do in a severe weather situation is to take shelter in a protected area of your home."
The message to pay attention to storm warning sirens is part of ReadyWisconsin, a preparedness program at Wisconsin Emergency Management. The program urges everyone to heed its motto: "Listen, Act and Live."
Safety is the key issue. A National Weather Service study on the tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., in May 2011, reveals why, despite tornado warnings, it was one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history: A majority of residents did not immediately seek shelter when warnings were issued. On that fateful day, Joplin area residents needed between two and nine warnings before taking action and seeking shelter, stopping first to look in the sky, get information from a TV or call a friend. The massive Enhanced F-5 level storm bearing down on them with winds of more than 200 mph killed 161 people and injured more than 1,000.
Such severe weather could happen here as well. According to National Weather Service data, Green County saw nine tornadoes between 1982 and 2011, and Lafayette County had 18. Fortunately, no one was killed, but 12 persons in Lafayette County were injured. During the same period, Dane County experienced 42 tornadoes, the highest in the state, which resulted in two deaths and 61 people injured.
Wisconsin averages 23 tornadoes annually, and while its peak tornado season is from April to August, tornadoes can occur any time of year, such as the storms that hit near Kenosha on Jan. 7, 2008.
The NWS confirmed 38 tornadoes in Wisconsin in 2011, the fourth highest number annually on record for the state. The earliest outbreak that year occurred on April 10, and on Aug. 19, another tornado with winds of 105 mph struck Marinette County, killing one man. Five people were injured in 2011.
The second greatest yearly number of tornadoes on state record occurred in 2010, when 46 tornadoes were confirmed. No one was killed, but 22 people were injured, and the tornadoes caused nearly $30 million in property damage.
Preparing for the Storm Aftermath
Monroe's emergency management system is designed to collaborate with the Green County emergency management system.
The framework for emergency action plans is basically the same for the city and the county, according to Green County Emergency Management Director Richard Wyttenbach.
If a tornado should hit the community, officials open and staff an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate all emergency response functions after the storm passes or possibly even before, Rausch said.
"Firefighters and police officers will be canvassing the affected area and reporting back to the Emergency Operations Center (about) what help is needed and where it is needed," he explained. "The city also has plans to bring emergency responders from other areas of the state or surrounding states, if needed.
The city has identified shelter locations and has pre-staged relief supplies in the city to assist residents who have been affected, Rausch said.
But while the Red Cross and other agencies will assist, in the event of a major disaster all residents should be prepared to sustain their families for up to 72 hours until state and federal resources arrive.
That's why "each family should have an emergency kit with contents appropriate to their family," Rausch said.
Rausch recommends using an emergency kit checklist available at www.fema.gov/pdf/library/fdsk.pdf. Suggested items for a disaster supply kit include one gallon of drinking water per person per day; a supply of ready-to-eat canned foods; a first aid kit; clothing and blankets or sleeping bags; and special items such as baby formula and diapers or prescriptions. The website also includes information on how to create a family disaster plan.
More information on emergency preparedness can be found at http://readywisconsin.wi.gov.