Kewaunee County to participate in the Statewide Tornado Drill

LUXEMBURG – Severe Weather Awareness Week will take place in Wisconsin Monday through Friday, April 13-17.

On April 16, Wisconsin’s statewide tornado drills are planned for 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. with a backup date of April 17 in the event of severe weather.

Kewaunee County Emergency Management will be utilizing its mass emergency notification system RaveAlert during the Statewide Tornado drills.

On drill day, Kewaunee County will send out calls to landlines and text messages to cell phones for those who have registered with Kewaunee’s mass emergency notification system, RaveAlert.

“If you are not registered, are new to the area, have a new phone number, changed cellphone carrier or moved within the county, you are encouraged to register or update your number with our mass emergency notification system.

This will help keep you informed of emergent information specific to Kewaunee County, like opening of shelter locations,” Director of Kewaunee County Emergency Management Tracy Nollenberg said. This can be done by going to the Kewaunee County website at www.kewauneeco.org and clicking on the “Stay Informed!” icon at the bottom left of the page.

“Having and testing alternate alerting systems is encouraged. Not every community has an outdoor warning system, some people opt to turn off their Wireless Emergency Alert Notifications and sometimes persons are not actively aware of the outdoor weather conditions,” Nollenberg said.

In addition to the county’s mass emergency notification system, your cell phones can receive Wireless Emergency Alerts that are sent out using FEMAs Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). This notification system was most recently used by this office in March 2026 due to poor travel conditions and telling persons to stay off the roads.

Social media users may notice an increased number of posts during Severe Weather Awareness Week from Kewaunee County Emergency Management, ReadyWisconsin and the National Weather Service encouraging them to exercise their severe weather plans. This is also a great time to check your emergency preparedness kits for home and vehicles.

“It’s important that residents take this time to go over their severe weather plans and practice them. We recommend having a NOAA weather radio handy and a weather app downloaded on your smart phone for when severe weather strikes,” Nollenberg said.

For tips on emergency preparedness, follow Kewaunee County Emergency Management on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KewCoEM and visit the ReadyWisconsin website at www.readywisconsin.wi.gov/.