Tornado Sirens to Be Tested Wednesday Morning

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — With it being Severe Weather Awareness Week, the Muskingum County Emergency Management Agency will be testing the tornado sirens for the first time Wednesday morning.

EMA Director Bo Keck wants people to know what sound to be on the lookout for not just tomorrow, but also in the event of a real emergency.

“We’ll be testing our tornado sirens for the first time this year. It will be at 9:50 on Wednesday along with the state test. The sirens will come up and hold at a solid tone for three minutes and then they’ll shut back down. That’s the same sound that you will here if there is an actual tornado warning issued for our area,” said Keck.

Community members should also be aware of the appropriate action to take in the event of severe weather.

“They should take cover right away and go to the lowest floor of their house. If they’re in a mobile home, if they could go to some other type of shelter that would be great. If you’re in a large building, a several story building, you should go to the basement area and the smallest room you can go to,” Keck explained.

Keck also added that on Wednesday’s during the test schedule, if there happens to be severe weather during the set test time in which it can be construed either way, they will not run the scheduled test.

Those interested in severe weather updates can go to the EMA’s notifications website and register to receive alerts from the national weather service at www.citizensalert60.org.