Peoria Recognizing Severe Weather Preparedness Week

Press release from the Peoria County Government:

Peoria County’s Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the National Weather Service (NWS), is calling on Peoria County residents to educate themselves and understand the threats of severe weather during Severe Weather Preparedness Week, taking place March 1-5, 2021.

Weather Alert Systems

The National Weather Service in Illinois will conduct a test of weather alert radios at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Peoria County will conduct our regular monthly test of our outdoor warning sirens at the same time.

Residents should not rely solely on outdoor warning sirens to alert them of an approaching storm. Options include:

• NOAA Weather alert radio
• Portable radio with battery backup
• Wireless Emergency Alerts enabled on your smart phone
• Cell phone apps that send local warnings
• Local media outlets

Severe Thunderstorms

Never ignore a Severe Thunderstorm Warning! Just because a tornado is not anticipated does not mean the storm is not dangerous. In Illinois, severe thunderstorms can produce damaging wind gusts more than 60 mph, large hail and heavy downpours – which can cause plenty of damage even without a tornado.

• In 2020, 13 people in Illinois were injured by damage caused as a result of severe thunderstorms. Property damage statewide was in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
• High wind from downbursts and straight-line winds causes more damage than nearly 75% of the tornadoes that occur in Illinois. Illinois averages around 520 reports of thunderstorm related wind damage each year.
• A devastating, long-lived line of severe thunderstorms, called a derecho, tracked from Iowa into Illinois on August 10, 2020. Wind gusts of 70 to 100 mph were reported in 31 counties in northern Illinois. Ten people were injured, and damages were hundreds of millions of dollars.

Build an Emergency Kit

Gather items for a kit before weather hits, so that you will be prepared, and not panicked, when you need to use the items. Find directions on how to assemble a kit at www.ready.gov.

This press release was produced by the Peoria County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.