According to Kevin Schuelke of Grant County Emergency Management, the National Weather Service decided not to hold tornado siren testing across South Dakota this spring during Severe Weather Awareness Week. Schuelke said the drills are too important to skip, and he plans to conduct local testing.
Municipalities in Grant County will participate at 10 a.m. (storm/tornado) and 10:15 a.m. (fire) on Wednesday, May 7. The Storm Alerting Siren and the Volunteer Fire Alerting Siren will both sound off. Schuelke asks residents to listen to the sirens and learn the difference.
Schuelke suggests everyone pauses for just a few minutes to educate themselves, their families, and employees. It is also a good time to implement a severe weather plan for everyone’s safety, he noted. “Plan for many scenarios in a ‘take action now’ event.”
Schuelke explained that because Grant County is quite a distance away from the Aberdeen Doppler radar, and radar’s accuracy diminishes as it moves away, tornadoes have occurred in our area that did not show on Doppler. The significant elevation drop from Summit to o Big Stone Lake can also affect its precision. “This makes our spotters very important in the process of activating the siren and alerting process,” he added. “Therefore” he said, “warnings can be activated by multiple methods – radar, spotters, and real happenings.”
Schuelke reminds everyone to listen and notice these key differences:
- A steady blast for an extended period of time = a Storm/Tornado warning –Take Action Now!
- A wavering or up-and-down blast for 30 seconds or less = a Fire
Get Prepared on Wednesday, May 7:
Listen for the Tornado Alert at 10 a.m. The Fire Alert is at 10:15 a.m.
Staff
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