Statewide Tornado Drill: Wednesday, March 27

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has declared this week (March 24–30) as Michigan’s Severe Weather Awareness Week. Part of this awareness week includes a statewide tornado drill, where residents of Michigan are invited to voluntarily participate in the tornado drill. While tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, there is a higher chance of them occurring in late spring and early summer.

The statewide tornado drill will occur on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at 1 p.m. The drill alerts will be sent out via NOAA Weather Radios, TV and radio stations.

While Andrews University will not be sending out alerts or asking the campus to shelter during this statewide drill, we would like to take this opportunity to review our emergency notification process and the safety guidelines for tornadoes.

Recognizing a tornado:

• Tornado Watch: Conditions exist for a tornado to develop
• Tornado Warning: A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar
• Signs of an approaching tornado can include dark, often greenish sky; large hail; and a large, dark low-lying cloud
• Signs of a tornado can include a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud; an approaching cloud of debris; and/or a loud roar (similar to the sound of a freight train)

When a tornado warning is issued for our area, the University will notify the campus through two primary means, AU Alert and the University’s severe weather siren.

AU Alert: If you have not already registered to receive AU Alert text messages, you can register here. If you are already registered, please take a moment to verify that your phone number and service provider are still correct.

Severe Weather Siren: If you are not familiar with the University’s severe weather siren sound, you can hear it being tested at its regularly scheduled test, the first Sunday of every month at noon.

The primary shelter safety guidelines to respond to a tornado warning are as follows:

• Seek shelter immediately
• Shelter in lower level, small, interior rooms
• Stay away from windows, doors or exterior walls

More information on the scheduled statewide tornado drill is available here.

For more information on tornado safety guidelines, visit ready.gov/tornadoes.