Severe weather awareness week March 23-27, siren testing cancelled
Montgomery County Emergency Management, in conjunction with the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division and the National Weather Service, has declared the week of March 23 through March 27, 2020, Severe Weather Awareness Week. Severe Weather Awareness Week is an annual event to remind Iowans that severe weather is part of living in our state and that understanding the risks and how to respond to them can save lives.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 threat across the country, the annual tornado drill day will not occur this year. Montgomery County Emergency Management still encourages all citizens, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities and public facilities to participate in this drill by practicing and discussing with your employees what you would do in the event of a real Tornado Warning or in the event of inclement weather. In the event of a real tornado warning or severe weather event, please seek shelter in an appropriate location with your family, friends and coworkers as you normally would.
As a friendly reminder, all outdoor warning sirens have limited range to no effectiveness when you are inside your home, around loud objects or traveling in your vehicle. When an actual Tornado Warning is issued for Montgomery County, only communities within the projected path will have their outdoor warning sirens sounded.
Montgomery County Emergency Management recommends having multiple ways of receiving severe weather watches, warnings and emergency information such as NOAA weather radios or any of the many severe weather apps available to smartphone users, along with the Montgomery County Alert Iowa system. Alert Iowa will notify you of severe weather watches and warnings as well as local emergency information such as snow emergencies and boil water alerts. Alerts are customized when you sign up to receive the notifications either by text message, email and/or voice. You can sign up for Montgomery County Alert Iowa at www.montgomerycountyiowa.com/alertiowa
For more information on Severe Weather Awareness Week, please visit the National Weather Service Omaha/Valley’s website at www.weather.gov/oax or the Montgomery County EMA Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/MontgomeryEMA