By Joe Kirts, Emergency Management Officer
Being prepared for severe weather can be a lifesaver. Argonne cares about you and your safety, so it is important to ensure that everyone knows where to shelter in the event of a tornado. Argonne will be conducting a site-wide tornado drill at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.
The drill fulfills Argonne’s annual requirement for building shelter drills and will be held during the NWS’s Severe Weather Preparedness Week: March 3-9, 2019.
The drill will be using the “actual” tornado warning messages and the outdoor warning sirens will sound for three minutes. The drill will last for 15 minutes. Should there be the threat of severe weather on March 5, the drill will be rescheduled.
Please discuss shelter plans with your colleagues and staff. If you have questions about the drill or severe weather preparedness, feel free to contact the Office of Emergency Management at ext. 2-0372.
In the event of an actual tornado warning:
The laboratory’s outdoor warning sirens are activated and a site-wide public address (PA) announcement is made informing site occupants to seek shelter.
If you are outdoors, get inside the closest substantial building and follow signage to the designated shelter. Remain there until an “all clear” is announced over the PA system.
If you are caught outside during non-work hours when severe weather strikes or the outdoor warning sirens are activated, these buildings remain open for you to access shelter: Buildings 203, 221, 223, 360, 362, 369, 370, 460 and 617.
Shelters are clearly identified in each occupied building. Designated building shelters are also identified in your ESH-108: Building Orientation training.