This is Severe Weather Preparedness Week for Indiana as well as National Flood Awareness Week. Two test tornado warnings will be issued Thursday around 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The tests are being conducted by the National Weather Service, Indiana State Police, American Red Cross and other agencies. Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock said he expects that all towns with a siren will participate, and that it’s up to individual companies to decide if they will hold their own tornado drill. “We don’t lean on them to do that, we just say if you want to hold a drill, this would be a good opportunity,” he said Tuesday. Michael Lewis, warning coordination meteorologist with the NWS Northern Indiana office, said there are several ways for residents to be warned of severe weather besides sirens – from TV news to NOAA weather radio to text alerts. “It’s like smoke detectors for weather – when we detect severe weather, the alarm goes off,” he said. “In this day and age, there’s no reason to be unwarned or inadequately warned.” For more information on Preparedness Week visit www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/
