This is the Ohio state-wide TORNADO DRILL!! Consider what actions you would need to take if there was a tornado know!

Whether practicing in a tornado drill or sheltering during a warning, you are encouraged to remember DUCK!

D – Go DOWN to the lowest level

U – Get UNDER something

C – COVER your head

K – KEEP in shelter until the storm has passed

• Take responsibility for your safety and be prepared before a watch or warning is issued. Meet with household members to develop a disaster plan to respond to tornado watches and warnings. Conduct regular tornado drills. When a tornado watch is issued, review your plan – don’t wait for the watch to become a warning. Learn how to turn off the water, gas and electricity at the main switches.
• Despite Doppler radar, tornadoes can sometimes occur without any warning, allowing very little time to act. It is important to know the basics of tornado safety. Know the difference between tornado watches and tornado warnings.
• Tune in to one of the following for weather information: NOAA Weather Radio, local/cable television (Ohio News Network or the Weather Channel), or local radio station.
• If you are a person with special needs, register your name and address with your local emergency management agency, police and fire departments before any natural or man-made disaster.
• NOAA Weather Radio has available an alerting tool for people who are deaf or have hearing impairments. Some weather radio receivers can be connected to an existing home security system, much the same as a doorbell, smoke detector or other sensor. For additional information, click here.
• The safest place to be during a tornado is a basement. If the building has no basement or cellar, go to a small room (a bathroom or closet) on the lowest level of the structure, away from windows and as close to the center of the building as possible.
• Be aware of emergency shelter plans in stores, offices and schools. If no specific shelter has been identified, move to the building’s lowest level. Try to avoid areas with large glass windows, large rooms and wide-span roofs such as auditoriums, cafeterias, large hallways or shopping malls.
• If you’re outside or in a mobile home, find shelter immediately by going to the lowest level of a nearby sturdy building. Sturdy buildings are the safest structures to be in when tornadoes threaten. Winds from tornadoes can blow large objects, including cars and mobile homes, hundreds of feet away.
• If you cannot quickly get to a shelter, get into your vehicle, buckle your seatbelt and try to drive to the nearest sturdy shelter.
• If you experience flying debris while driving, pull over and park. Choose to either stay in your vehicle, stay buckled up, duck down below the windows and cover your head with your hands, or find a depression or ditch, exit your vehicle and use your arms and hands to protect your head. Never seek shelter under highway overpasses and bridges.

The National Weather Service has issued a Freezing Rain Advisory for Athens County, which is in effect until 12 noon today, Friday, March 17th.

Patchy freezing rain is possible through the remainder of the morning hours. In some cases, the freezing rain may only occur in trace amounts, but this is enough to cause slick roads, creating hazardous driving conditions. Other surfaces will be affected as well, such as sidewalks and driveways.

Other wintry precipitation types are possible, such as sleet and brief light snow resulting in trace accumulations.

• HAZARD TYPES – Patchy freezing rain.
• TIMING – Through noon.
• IMPACTS – The freezing rain will create slick roadways and other surfaces.
• TEMPERATURES – Lower 20s rising into the 30s.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS; A Freezing Rain Advisory means that periods of freezing rain or freezing drizzle will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for slippery roads. Slow down and use caution while driving.