Barren County to participate in statewide tornado drill

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

Barren County will be joining the various other counties in Kentucky that are participating in the annual statewide tornado drill tomorrow, March 9, at 9:07 a.m.

For roughly three minutes the outdoor warning sirens — commonly referred to as COWS — will be activated and weather radios will be tested, though people will not get an alert on their phones.

Garland Gilliam, director of Glasgow-Barren County Emergency Management, said in Barren County individuals will be at each of the siren sites that are sprinkled throughout the county to make sure they activate and rotate as it should. He said that while it is a good opportunity to check the county’s equipment it is really an opportunity for individuals, businesses and schools to practice their safety plans.

“We want to encourage everyone during this time to practice their tornado plans, whether that’s at school or work or home,” Gilliam said. “As a statewide drill there’s a lot more to it beyond what I do. It’s more about the people practicing what to do more than us just testing our equipment.”

Gilliam said he had several phone calls and messages from businesses informing him of their plans to participate. Heather Gardner, public relations assistant at the district, confirmed Barren County Schools who be participating in the drill as did Amanda Abell, superintendent of Caverna Independent Schools. Tara Martin, supervisor of instruction at Glasgow Independent Schools, said to “her knowledge” the schools “had no drills scheduled for tomorrow.”

Gilliam said “if there is any suspicion of inclement weather” the drill for Barren County would be canceled. The National Weather Service forecast a chance of shower during the day transitioning to “patchy drizzle” Wednesday night. He also said this statewide drill will not take the place of the regularly scheduled siren testing on the first Saturdays of the month.