RICHLAND COUNTY — This is Severe Weather Safety Week in Ohio. Typically, this is a great opportunity for homes, schools, and businesses to brush up on their knowledge of severe spring weather threats, and to test their safety plans.

But with all schools and most businesses closed due to COVID-19, more people are spending much of their time at home.

It’s more of a necessity to update severe-weather safety plans for homes.

These mostly wet March days are a good time to prepare for severe spring weather. Temperatures can swing back and forth between balmy and frigid. Sunny days may be followed by a week of stormy weather. So, planning ahead makes sense; prepare for storms, floods, and tornadoes as if you know in advance that they are coming, because in the spring, they very likely will.

• Check the supplies in your emergency First Aid kit and update if needed.
• Prepare your home emergency kit and have one for your car.
• Have a three-day supply of bottled water and nonperishable food on hand.
• Show family members where to seek appropriate shelter.
• Practice your emergency plan for every type of severe weather.
• Show family members where the emergency supplies are stored, and make sure they know how to turn off the water, gas, and electricity in your home.

Ohio’s Statewide Tornado Drill is scheduled to take plaace Wednesday, March 25 at 9:50 a.m. Test messages will broadcast and most counties will sound their outdoor warning sirens. Ohioans are encouraged to use this time to practice their tornado drills.

Ohio seems to have gone through a very mild winter with very little snow and a surprisingly few day of extreme cold. What that means for the spring is unknown.

Will we have a relatively mild spring with few storms or flooding? Most the residents of Shelby will not forget the tornado that swept through the outskirts of the town in 2019, damaging several businesses, but fortunately missing most residential areas and the schools.

For more about severe spring weather, see the weather tips at richlandhealth.org: https://www.richlandhealth.org/personal-health/weather-safety-tips

Richland Public Health is proud to be a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador.