During Minnesota Severe Weather Awareness Week the Department of Public Safety, National Weather Service and KDHL/POWER 96 radio will be providing you with severe weather information.  What should you do when a siren goes off?

With snow on the ground I know lightning, hail and tornadoes don't immediately pop into your head but please pay attention to the information we will share with you this week.

Tuesday, April 14 at 9:30 a.m. KDHL hosts a Severe Weather Awareness program that will be an hour long.  We will replay the program at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night on the Mighty 920.  We have the top people involved locally when severe weather strikes.

Faribault Emergency Management Director Dustin Dienst, Rice County Emergency Management Director Jennifer Hauer-Schmitz will join us by telephone has we continue to practice social distancing.  I will also be taping a segment with Goodhue County Emergency Management Director Diane Richter-Biwer which you will be able to hear during the program.

There will be different tips each day of the week determined by Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) in collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS) as follows:

  • Monday:  Alerts and Warnings
  • Tuesday: Severe Weather, Lightning and Hail
  • Wednesday: Floods
  • Thursday: Tornadoes (with statewide tornado drills)
  • Friday: Extreme Heat

I know this is done every year but please pay attention because when severe weather strikes seconds really do save lives.  Make sure you have the KDHL and POWER 96 app on your mobile devices.  More than likely when a tornado hits power to our transmitters will be disrupted.  These apps will deliver important information to you.  There will be no static like you experience during storms on the AM dial either.  It is the way to listen during storm season.

When the 2018 tornadoes hit this region it was amazing no people were even injured.  In the last decade we have had three major floods in Rice County and more minor flooding.

Sign up for your community emergency message alerts.

Goodhue County has the CodeRed system which provides Biwer and other officials the ability to quickly deliver messages they want their residents to hear.  In addition to severe weather, missing child alerts can be targeted to specific areas or the entire county.  An evacuation may be ordered in an area.  Waseca County and Scott County also utilize CodeRed.

Rice County, Steele County, Le Sueur County, have Everbridge Citizen Alert.  Dakota County has their communications center provide an alert system.

Please tune in Tuesday so you are informed when severe weather hits.

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