Severe Weather Preparedness Week Is Here

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – March 18 through 24 is Severe Weather Preparedness Week in Indiana, an idea more Hoosiers are taking seriously this year.

Several deadly tornadoes ripped through southern Indiana March 2, claiming 12 lives, two of them in the Ripley County town of Holton.

“Nobody thinks these things are going to happen to them, and then they do,” said Dearborn County Emergency Management Director Bill Black.

The recent tornado episode is a reminder that every family and business should have a plan for being as safe as possible during storms, tornadoes, and floods.

“This week gives citizens at home, schools, factories and whoever to look their plan over again and see what it is and maybe practice it,” Black said.

Mobile homes can be particularly vulnerable during tornadoes or strong winds. Eight of the 12 deaths in Indiana occurred with mobile homes.

“I know some mobile home parks are or have been looking at a building in their park a shelter for people to go to (in the event of a storm),” said Black.

Black says a good time to go over emergency plans will be during a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday, March 21. The test will be performed between 10:00-10:30 a.m. and again between 7:30-8:00 p.m. with agencies across the state sounding their storm sirens. Most television and radio stations will also participate.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has severe weather preparedness tips online at http://www.in.gov/dhs/3163.htm?WT.cg_n=DHS_billboards&WT.cg_s=030112_01_Severe_Weather.