Severe thunderstorms provide numerous hazards to life and property, but the one threat that gets the most attention is tornadoes.
Severe Weather Awareness Week continued Tuesday with an emphasis on tornado safety, including the statewide tornado drill. Lyon County did not participate, using Monday’s standard weekly test instead, but Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell says this is a good time to practice severe weather safety plans — or to develop them if you don’t have them in place. He says you don’t need a lot of time to put your action plan in place once it’s needed — if you have planned ahead.
Fell says certain thoughts about tornado safety have evolved over the past several decades.
If a tornado is imminent, you should hear the sirens in town if you’re outside. Every year, residents complain they can’t hear the sirens if they are in their house or at their workplace. Fell says the sirens weren’t designed for folks inside.
Lyon County sounds the tornado sirens based on a National Weather Service or trained spotter report. Those storms also have to be threatening a city or town before they sound.
While Lyon County did not take part in the statewide drill Tuesday, most area counties did. Chase County’s sirens did not sound as planned, but Sheriff Richard Dorneker says that was due to incorrect programming. The sirens have been properly set now. No other area counties reported issues Tuesday.
Severe Weather Awareness Week continues with an emphasis on lightning safety Wednesday, hail and wind safety Thursday and flooding safety Friday. Lyon County’s annual storm spotter training session is Monday at 7 pm at the Bowyer Community Building.
