[LeArc] Severe Weather Preparedness Week is March 5-11

[Duane Whittingham]

IEMA and National Weather Service encourage people
to use life-saving weather radios as spring storm
season approaches

Severe Weather Preparedness Week is March 5-11

SPRINGFIELD – Tornadoes can strike at anytime, 
day or night, but can be especially deadly in
the middle of the night when many people are 
asleep. As Illinois observes Severe Weather
Preparedness Week March 5-11, the Illinois 
Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the
National Weather Service (NWS) are reminding 
people that weather radios save lives by
providing round-the-clock alerts of imminent dangers.

“The late night tornado that struck Evansville, 
Indiana in November took the lives of many
sleeping people who didn’t know this deadly storm 
was approaching,” said IEMA Director
William C. Burke. “A weather radio could have 
alerted them to the danger and given them time
to seek shelter. That’s why I strongly encourage 
everyone to get a weather radio and keep it on
throughout the year.”

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR)
is a nationwide network of radio stations 
broadcasting continuous weather information directly
from a nearby weather service office. NWR 
broadcasts warning, watches, forecasts and other
hazard information 24 hours a day. Besides 
weather information, NWR also broadcasts
warnings and post-event information for all types 
of hazards, including natural, environmental
and public safety hazards, such as earthquakes, 
chemical spills and AMBER alerts.

Many weather radios offer Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME), which can be
programmed to only alert for warnings in your 
specific area. The six-digit county code for your
area can be found at 
www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/indexnw.hts#sametable. It is important to choose a
weather radio with a battery back-up and 
tone-alert feature. Weather radios cost between $30-
$60 and are available at many home improvement, 
electronics and general merchandise stores.

“While tornadoes and severe storms are most 
common in the spring and early summer months,
the Evansville tornado is proof that they can 
happen anytime of the year,” said Burke. “A
weather radio is much like a smoke alarm – it can 
wake you up and alert you to approaching
danger in time to seek shelter.”

There were only 18 tornadoes and no deaths or 
injuries reported during 2005, far fewer than
Illinois’ average of 38 tornadoes per year. 
However, 80 tornadoes occurred in Illinois in 2004,
resulting in nine deaths and 23 injuries. In 
2003, there were two deaths and 81 injuries caused by
a record-setting 120 tornadoes.

“Nearly one-third of all tornadoes and more than 
40 percent of severe thunderstorms with
damaging winds and large hail strike Illinois 
during the night,” said Chris Miller, warning
coordinator for the NWS in Lincoln. “It is 
imperative that someone in each home and business
monitor weather conditions at night when severe 
weather watches and warnings are in effect. A
weather radio is the most effective way to do this.”

Besides tornadoes, spring and early summer in 
Illinois also bring severe thunderstorms and
flooding. Severe thunderstorms can produce 
tornadoes, damaging winds, lightning, hail and
heavy rain, all of which can cause death, 
injuries and property damage. Since 1990, lightning
has killed 25 people in Illinois, and in 2001, 
the state ranked second in the nation for lightning
fatalities.

While many people don’t consider floods as 
dangerous as tornadoes, flooding is the number one
severe weather killer nationwide. The most 
dangerous type of flooding is a flash flood, which
can sweep away everyone and everything in its 
path. Fourteen people in Illinois have died from
flash floods since 1995, and most victims were in vehicles.

IEMA and NWS developed a Severe Weather 
Preparedness Guide, which contains information
and tips on how to keep you and your family safe 
when a storm approaches and what actions to
take following a severe storm, tornado or flood. 
The guide is available on the IEMA website at
www.state.il.us/iema or by calling (217) 785-9888. Some tips include:

Tornadoes
• Before bad weather occurs, determine the best 
location in your home and office to seek
shelter. A basement or cellar will usually 
provide the best protection. If not available,
identify an interior room or hallway with no windows on the lowest level.
• When a tornado warning has been issued, go at 
once to your predetermined shelter. In a
basement, go under the stairs, a heavy piece of 
furniture or a workbench. Stay there until
danger has passed.
• In a mobile home, get out and seek shelter 
elsewhere. If there isn’t a substantial shelter
nearby, seek shelter in a low-lying area and shield your head with your hands.
• In public places, avoid areas with wide-span 
roofs, such as auditoriums, cafeterias,
gymnasiums and large hallways. Stay away from windows.
-more-
Add 2/Severe Weather Preparedness Week

Thunderstorms
• Avoid using the telephone or other electrical 
appliances and delay baths or showers until
the storm passes.
• If outdoors, seek shelter immediately. If you 
can hear thunder, you are probably close
enough to the storm to be struck by lightning.
• If outside without immediate shelter, find a 
low spot away from trees and power poles
where you can squat low to the ground. Make 
yourself the smallest target possible.
Flooding
• Know how to shut off electricity, gas and water 
at main switches and valves and be
prepared to do so if instructed by local 
authorities. Know where gas pilots are located
and how the heating system works.
• Never attempt to drive over a flooded roadway. 
The speed and depth of the water is not
always obvious and portions of the road under the 
water may have been washed out.
• Never let children play in or near floodwaters, 
flooded creeks or flood retention ponds.


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Duane Whittingham (N9SSN) - Producer
Tom and Darryl Radio Shows
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