CINCINNATI — As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, Ohio will be conducting a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning.
Multiple counties will test their outdoor warning sirens starting at 9:50 a.m. Wednesday. If you don't hear any sirens, though, that doesn't mean your county's system doesn't work. Instead, many Southwest Ohio counties will not activate their sirens because they already test them on a different schedule.
Residents in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Highland and Warren counties will not hear any outdoor warning sirens during the drill. Brown and Clinton counties will activate their sirens. The Emergency Management Association of Ohio said Clinton County will also test their mass notification system.
The Tri-State has already dealt with multiple tornadoes in 2023. The National Weather Service confirmed three tornadoes occurred during severe weather in early March. An EF-1 tornado hit west of Hillsboro, while a second, weaker tornado touched down in New Vienna. Clermont County dealt with an EF0 tornado just to the west of Bethel during the storms.
Just days before on Feb. 27, the NWS confirmed a tornado occurred near Carlisle, Ohio during a string of storms that swept through Butler, Warren and Montgomery counties.
Officials encourage all residents to be prepared for severe weather by building an emergency preparedness kit with things like water, nonperishable food and a flashlight. Residents should also have a plan in case of disaster, knowing how to communicate or where to go.
If there is a tornado, you should take cover indoors and try to get information from local news. The Storm Shield App,available on the Apple App Storeand Google Play Store, provides alerts for all life-threatening weather events.
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