North Carolina Severe Weather Preparedness Week runs from March 3 through March 9, and Orange County Emergency Services encourages residents to participate in this week's statewide tornado drill to ensure you know what to do when a disaster strikes.
"With the peak of North Carolina’s severe weather season right around the corner, now is the time to prepare," said Orange County Emergency Management Coordinator Kirby Saunders.
Saunders encourages everyone to participate in the Statewide Tornado Drill, which will occur on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. Every school, business, workplace and family across the Orange County community is encouraged to participate in this drill.
In addition to an announcement over the NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System, Orange County and its community partners will also exercise the OC Alert weather notification system. Around 9:30 a.m., OC Alerts will deliver a test message indicating the start of the Statewide Tornado Drill to community members who have self-subscribed to receive emergency alerts.
OC Alerts is a community-wide emergency notification program funded by Orange County, the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority. The program delivers automated severe weather warning, information about other emergencies such as hazardous materials incidents, active crimes, missing persons, and water disruptions, in addition to informative fire department and law enforcement information. To register for OC Alerts, visit www.readyorange.org and click on the “OC Alerts” registration graphic.