Tornado sirens sounded in Minnesota and Wisconsin at 1:45 p.m. CDT on Thursday and will sound again at 6:45 p.m. CDT as part of a drill for Severe Weather Awareness Week, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed.
“The Severe Weather Awareness Week annual tornado drill will take place on Thursday the 10th at 1:45pm in Minnesota & Wisconsin and again at 6:45pm,” NWS said in an alert.
“Local sirens & other notification methods may be used, in addition to alert signals via NOAA Weather Radio by the National Weather Service. This will be a great time to practice your readiness plan with your family!”
The first drill is aimed at institutions and businesses, while the evening drill targets second-shift workers and families.
Reactions-
Many people, unaware of the afternoon drill, took to social media to ask what was happening.
“Why are the tornado sirens going off right now? It’s not the first Wednesday of the month??” one peron inquired.
Another asked, “Tornado sirens are going off. It’s a Thursday & it’s two weeks into the month. What’s up y’all.”
{{/usCountry}}Another asked, “Tornado sirens are going off. It’s a Thursday & it’s two weeks into the month. What’s up y’all.”
{{/usCountry}}A third resident joked, “Uh oh tornado sirens going off in the middle of my walk back from the grocery store… if i don’t tweet again it’s because i got sucked off by a tornado.”
Another person asked, “Ermmm why are the tornado sirens going off in my city rn... its the 2nd week of the month plus its a Thursday.”
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Severe Weather Awareness Week
Severe Weather Awareness Week is designed to educate and remind people about the dangers of severe weather and how to prepare for it. This includes creating an emergency preparedness plan and keeping an emergency kit on hand.