RICHMOND, Va. -- Thousands of people will participate in Thursday morning’s Virginia Statewide Tornado Drill.
The drill, scheduled for 9:45 a.m., coincides with Severe Weather Awareness Week which is March 4 through March 8.
The National Weather Service will not issue an actual tornado warning but will broadcast the test through NOAA weather radio and the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
You are encouraged to use this time to practice their tornado safety precautions.
Jason Elmore is a former Chesterfield firefighter and lieutenant who served as the face of the department. He now works for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) as their deputy director of communications.
VDEM brought back its registration list for the 2024 drill. Elmore counted about 350 individuals, businesses, school systems, and local governments who had promised to participate.
That equates to 250,000 people across Virginia who are taking their safety into their own hands.
“Take the opportunity to practice your emergency action plan, whether it's with your family, or whether you're at work — make sure that you're prepared in the event of a tornado warning,” Elmore said. “I think one of the best things is to get with your management at your apartment building and find out from them what their emergency action plan is as they may have some type of guest room where it's an open area for everyone — that may be the safest spot. They may have a basement."
The Commonwealth’s last deadly tornado touched down in Central and Southside Virginia on September 17, 2018.
One man was killed and another injured in one tornado that hit Chesterfield County off Hull Street. The tornadoes caused just over $1 million in property damage.
Virginia’s deadliest tornado in the last decade hit Sussex County on February 24, 2016. The National Weather Service said a 50-year-old man, a 26-year-old man, and a two-year-old boy were killed when their Waverly mobile home was destroyed.
Tornadoes hit 14 counties across Virginia that day and caused more than $24 million in damage. One person also died in Appomattox.
Here are some safety tips during severe weather:
- An apartment not on the ground floor: Go to a basement laundry room or a hallway of the ground floor. Make sure you are as far away from windows and doors as possible. Take items to cover yourself with to protect yourself from any flying debris.
- Office building: If the building does not have a tornado safety plan in place, get to the lowest floor possible and stay away from windows and outside walls. Take shelter in a bathroom or closet on the ground floor.
- Shopping center or mall: Follow signs for tornado or storm shelter. If none are available, get into a bathroom on the ground floor.
- Cars: get to a sturdy building and seek shelter. If there is no shelter available and the tornado is very close, get out of your car and lie flat in a ditch or lowest area, covering your body. Despite shown in some videos online, do not seek shelter under an overpass or low bridge.
- Mobile home: have an evacuation plan in place before severe weather strikes. On days with a potential for severe weather, and especially if a tornado watch or severe thunderstorm watch is issued, pay close attention to the current weather. At the first sign of any stormy weather, leave your mobile home and get to a sturdy shelter, such as a local library or business.
- Outside with no shelter nearby: lie flat in a ditch or lowest location and cover your head. Be watchful that the location is not an area that could flood quickly.
The National Weather Service in Wakefield has more about the Virginia Severe Weather Awareness Week on their website.
The Virginia Department of Emergency Management has a page devoted to preparing for severe weather.
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