Eleven months ago, two tornadoes blew through Hampton Roads, leaving paths of destruction and damaging 200 homes in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Days later, a tornado with winds of 90 miles per hour cut through Lancaster County. The following month, five more tornadoes formed across the state.
To help Virginians prepare for possible tornadoes this season, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management is holding its annual statewide tornado drill, which includes a warning signal test, according to a VDEM news release.
The drill will be held March 20 at 9:45 a.m. It will begin with a test-tornado warning, sent by the National Weather Service to National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration weather radios.
The NOAA radios will sound a tone alert and show a test message to simulate what people would hear or see during a real tornado warning. Local radio stations, TV stations and cable outlets will broadcast the test message via the Emergency Alert System.
“An actual tornado warning isn’t the time to figure out how to keep your loved ones, coworkers, friends and neighbors safe. Virginians should use the statewide tornado drill on March 20 as an opportunity to test their tornado emergency procedures and discuss preparedness efforts for these deadly and unexpected storms which can touch down in Virginia throughout the year,” said Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) State Coordinator Dr. Jeff Stern.
Tornadoes in 2017 didn’t discriminate among different areas of the state, hitting southwest, southeast, northern and central regions.
Last year, there were 25 confirmed tornadoes in Virginia, according to Bill Sammler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield.
Participants, including individual schools and businesses, should register for the drill. Registration information is available at the VDEM tornado drill website.
