This year, North Carolina’s Severe Weather Awareness Week is March 12-18.

On Wednesday, March 15, schoolchildren from across the state will practice a tornado drill. I encourage you and your employees to take ten minutes and, along with North Carolina’s schoolchildren, practice the annual drill. Lives can be saved when workers know where to go and what to do in the event of a real emergency.

The National Weather Service, through the NOAA weather radios and Emergency Alert System, will broadcast the drill at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning. When the alert is given, your designated safety officer should instruct employees to go to the inner hallway of their building, away from flying glass or debris. Employees should be instructed not to take the elevator or stairwells down to lower floors.

In addition to the 25 confirmed tornadoes in North Carolina last year, the National Weather Service recorded more than 400 incidents of severe thunderstorms that had winds of 60 miles per hour and/or large hail and they issued 116 flash flood warnings. You can find information on severe weather preparedness by going to one of the following sites:

Alamance County Emergency Management
www.nccrimecontrol.org/severeweather
http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_79_,00.html
http://www.fema.gov/hazards/