As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, the National Weather Service in conjunction with local Emergency Management offices, will be doing a mock Tornado Drill on Wednesday April 21st, 2021. The Mock Tornado Drill will be held across the entire State of South Dakota. Here is what will happen that day. At 10:15 a.m. the National Weather Service will issue a test TORNADO WARNING, meaning a Tornado has been indicated by radar or spotted by trained storm spotters. In addition, we will test all the sirens in Yankton County if weather allows. We will also set off all the Fire/EMS pagers using the ALL CALL tones just as if it were the real event. For the Tornado warning, if you own a NOAA weather radio it should go off as well.

So, what should you do? Talk with your family about what you would do if the situation was real. Where would you seek shelter at home or at school or even outside? Also be sure to form a plan on how you would contact each other after the event was over.

The National Weather Service (NWS) will be holding virtual training class on Severe Weather Awareness/ Spotter classes. It’s informative and interactive and free to all. The class lasts roughly 2 hours. Here is the link to the classes: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=0e4a577ce27d49dfa4d2799add1a9713

If you have questions or want more information, please contact the Office of Emergency Management at 605-589-4214.