April 12, 2019 – Washington Co., WI – The City of West Bend in cooperation with Washington Co. Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service will be participating in a Statewide Tornado Drill on Friday, April 12, 2019.
The drill tests the notification procedures that take place during a severe weather event. Various types of watches/warnings are issued by the National Weather Service and disseminated to local dispatch centers. From there, the dispatch centers pass along the information to local public safety agencies and key personnel.
On Friday, April 12, 2019 at 1 p.m. the National Weather Service will issue a “test” TORNADO WATCH. The drill will continue with a “test” TORNADO WARNING at 1:45 p.m.
There will be another test” TORNADO WARNING at 6:45 p.m.. At 1:45 p.m. and 6:55 p.m., the times of the test TORNADO WARNINGS, the City of West Bend Emergency Sirens will activate for three minutes as if this was an actual TORNADO WARNING. This is only a test of the Emergency Warning System.
In addition to sounding the Emergency Sirens at 1:45 p.m., West Bend City Hall will conduct a test tornado drill in City Hall at that time. If citizens are in City Hall at 1:45 p.m. they will be asked to participate in the drill. If citizens choose not to participate in the drill they will be able to either leave City Hall or stay in place until the end of the drill. The test should be over by 2 p.m., and at that time all offices in City Hall will be operational.