The 40th annual Statewide Tornado Drill will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
During the drill, the outdoor warning siren system in Cole County and Jefferson City will be used. Residents throughout the county and city will hear the actual warning siren activation instead of the monthly chime test.
In case of severe weather, the drill will be rescheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Residents are asked to participate by reviewing their home severe weather plans in the event of an actual threat or plans at their workplace. Further information can be obtained by visiting stormaware.mo.gov or colecountyema.org.
"The 911 communications center gets updates from the National Weather Service," said Cole County Emergency Management Director Bill Farr. "Whenever the weather service puts out a warning, then the sirens are activated. Unless a trained spotter or law officer sees a funnel on the ground, the only time the sirens go off is if the weather service issues a warning."
When the sirens are off, a voice will say there is a warning followed by the old siren sound, Farr said. When the warning expires, the siren goes off, and a voice comes on notifying the warning has ended.
Farr said the sirens are tested the first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m., unless bad weather is occurring at that time. The tests start with a voice message saying "this is a test," followed by the Westminster Chimes, then a voice saying the test is done.
Farr also noted there is a free alert system offered by the Cole County Sheriff's Department. At the bottom of the sheriff's department website, colecountysheriff.org, residents can sign up for the sheriff alert.
This free program allows residents to get text messages on their cell phones or home phones about severe weather and other public safety incidents such as when an accident occurs and roads are blocked. It can also be specified to notify about incidents in particular communities in the county.