SAN ANGELO, Texas — An area-wide tornado drill will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 as a way to prepare for a real-life situation.
“It’s just an opportunity for the public and local schools and hospitals and other places like that to practice their procedures for when a tornado might impact their area,” National Weather Service Abilene/San Angelo Lead Forecaster, Seth Nagle, said.
Tornadoes bring dangerous winds and can cause severe damage. Nagle said the Concho Valley and Big Country usually see the same amount of tornadoes annually.
“The Concho Valley and the Big Country generally see roughly the same amount of tornadoes every year. However, there might be a few more tornadoes in the Big Country area each year, but the differences are pretty negligible,” Nagle said.
Tom Green County Emergency Management Coordinator, Jerry Huffman, said tornado drills are a perfect opportunity to prepare and learn what to do.
“You want to put as many walls between you and the outside so an interior room, lowest level and again with as many walls you and the outside as possible,” Huffman said.
The Abilene Office of Emergency Management will send a county-wide tornado drill notification via the Code Red mass notification system.
The City of San Angelo stopped the use of sirens to alert the citizens about tornados and other weather warnings because they were outdated and expensive to repair. However, the tornado drill warning will be transmitted over the NOAA weather radio. Concho Valley residents can also receive emergency alerts from the City of San Angelo through Nixle, social media and cellphones.