AUDIO: Statewide tornado drill today for Severe Weather Awareness Week

KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – It may not feel like it, but spring has officially arrived and today is the state’s annual tornado drill.

At about 1 p.m. this afternoon, local emergency agencies will be testing their tornado sirens, so don’t be alarmed when they go off.

It’s part of Michigan’s annual Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Emergency officials say everyone should have a safe place designated in their home, enough water and food for three days, a flashlight, a battery operated radio, or weather radio.

County Commissioner John Gisler says it might also be a good idea to have helmets ready too.

He says the head is the most vulnerable part of the body in high impact situations.

While Michigan hasn’t seen the kind of violent tornadoes that other states have witnessed, it averages about 15 twisters a year.

Last year 5 deaths were caused when seven twisters appeared one day last August in Canton Township, and don’t forget that Kalamazoo had its own killer twister tear up the downtown in 1980.