Statewide Tornado Drill To Be Held Tuesday Morning
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It might not seem like the ideal time of year for a tornado drill, but that's exactly what state and local officials have planned for 10 a.m. Tuesday across Illinois.
Chuckle if you will, but National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Fenelon said now is the time to make sure you're prepared for severe weather. That explains why tornado sirens will sound in many communities on Tuesday, and broadcasters will perform test drills on radio and TV.
The statewide drill is an effort to make sure state and local agencies are prepared, and to remind the rest of us to have a plan ready in the event of severe weather, like a tornado.
DuPage County Emergency Management Coordinator John Nebl said tornadoes don't happen too often in the Chicago area, but they can, so it's good to be prepared.
"Even though snow is on the ground, people need to realize that in very short order, we're going to have the potential for severe weather coming forward," he said.
Illinois residents don't have to go too far back – November 2013 – to remember the kind of devastation tornadoes can cause, even when it's not peak tornado season. The small town of Washington was ravaged by a twister on Nov. 17, 2013, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed or damaged in the storm.
"That was actually the fourth largest [tornado] on record in the state, and that occurred only just a few days after record cold," Fenelon said.
