Annual statewide tornado drill planned next week

The next statewide tornado drill will happen next week, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management says.

The drill will begin at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday when the National Weather Service sends out a test tornado warning to weather radios, according to emergency officials. Television and radio stations also will broadcast a test message.

Weather radios should be turned on about five minutes before the drill.

State officials encourage residents and schools to participate and report that more than 500,000 people have registered to take part in next week’s drill. Everyone should practice a tornado emergency plan at least once a year, they said.

In 2009, 16 tornadoes hit Virginia, according to the emergency management agency.  

The agency recommends designating a tornado shelter in an interior room away from windows on the lowest level of a building, home or school. Basements are best, but an interior bathroom, closet or similar enclosed space also could offer shelter.

Anyone outside when a tornado is spotted should seek shelter or lie flat on the ground in the lowest spot possible if shelter can't be found. Get out of a car or mobile home. People in large buildings such as shopping malls or auditoriums also should seek an enclosed space in the building such as a bathroom or interior hallway.

Tornadoes often hit with little warning and don’t have a season like hurricanes, emergency officials wrote in the release. Tornadoes have hit every part of the state during all seasons.

For more information about tornadoes and safety, visit www.vaemergency.com.