Minnesota’s Severe Weather Awareness Week will be held during the week of April 11-15, 2011, with tornado drills scheduled for Thursday, April 14th. This campaign helps teach Minnesotans about weather hazards and provides resources to minimize the risks associated with severe weather. Using this information as a guide, everyone is encouraged to make a plan, build an emergency kit and practice drills.

Is your nursing facility or assisted living community prepared for severe weather? Do you know that entire Minnesota nursing facilities and housing establishments had to be evacuated due to natural disasters in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010? The Minnesota Severe Weather Awareness Week is an opportunity for nursing facilities and housing with services (HWS) establishments to become better prepared for severe weather situations. Weather risks the week focuses on include:

MONDAY, 11th – Thunderstorms, Hail, Straight-Line Winds, Lightning

• Thunderstorms, hail, straight line winds and heat waves cause extensive damage in Minnesota every year.
• The annual toll from hail alone is about $1 billion nationally.
• High temperatures can quickly cause heat exhaustion, especially in children and elderly persons.
• Lightning kills and injures more people than any other summer weather threat!
• 47 lightning fires took place in homes and business structures in 2007, resulting in damages of about $2.3 million.

More information from the National Weather Service’s Preparedness Guide

TUESDAY, April 12th – Severe Weather Warnings

• Severe weather warnings are issued to the public by the National Weather Service.
• Topics include the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and NOAA all-hazards weather radio.
• Does your operation have a NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) weather alert radio available where it can be monitored 24/7/365? A good place to look for NOAA radios is the Weather Radio Store. Facilities should have at least one portable NOAA (with SAME technology) radio that can be moved into a storm-safe area during an alert.

More information on weather alerting systems from the National Weather Service

WEDNESDAY, April 13th – Floods, Flash Floods

• Flooding is a coast-to-coast threat to the United States and its territories in all months of the year. The recent National Flood Safety Awareness Week was intended to highlight some of the many ways floods can occur, the hazards associated with floods, and what you can do to save life and property.
• In 1997, floods on the Red River and the Minnesota River affected 58 Minnesota counties, resulting in the largest Presidential disaster declaration in state history.
• The cost of response and recovery was estimated at $545 million dollars.
• Successful flood mitigation: View photos of Red River floods of 2007.

More information on flood safety awareness from the National Weather Service

THURSDAY, April 14th – Tornado Drill Day

For more than 20 years, the state of Minnesota has conducted a Severe Weather Awareness Week in partnership with the National Weather Service and local governments. A statewide tornado drill is part of that event.

Afternoon Tornado Drill ― 1:45 p.m.

The drill traditionally occurs on Thursday afternoon at 1:45 p.m., when jurisdictions across Minnesota sound their outdoor warning sirens. Schools, businesses and other facilities are encouraged to conduct a tornado drill at this time to practice their tornado sheltering plans.

Evening Tornado Drill ― 6:55 p.m.

The reason for a 6:55 p.m. drill is that severe weather ― including tornadoes ― occurs most often between 3 and 8 p.m. The statewide 1:45 p.m. drill gives institutions, first-shift and day workers a time to practice, but it does not allow second-shift workers the same opportunity. The 6:55 p.m. tornado drill also allows families to practice their sheltering plans.

List of counties participating in the evening drill

More information on tornadoes from the National Weather Service

FRIDAY, April 15th   – Heat Awareness Day

• Heat-related fatalities outpace deaths in several other weather categories.
• Based on a national average from 1992-2001, excessive heat claimed 219 lives each year.
• By contrast, floods killed 88, tornadoes 57, lightning 52 and hurricanes 15.

Heat wave brochure [PDF] - Courtesy of the National Weather Service – Chanhassen
Official Heat index chart [PDF] - Courtesy of the National Weather Service - Chanhassen Office
Heat Symptoms [PDF] - Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Health
Keep Cool [PDF] - Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Health
Hot Weather Kills [PDF] - Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Health

Federal regulations require nursing facilities initially certified after October 1, 1990 to maintain a temperature range of 71°- 81°F in resident areas. A nursing facility must also show what actions they will take when residents complain of being hot or cold, as well as when building temperatures fall below 71° or exceed 81° F. Nursing facilities initially certified prior to October 1990 are required to maintain “safe and comfortable temperature levels.” Minnesota nursing home rules also require comfortable humidity levels in nursing homes, but no specific humidity level or threshold is referenced. Facilities may need to consider additional fans to improve airflow and temporary air conditioning units for extreme temperature situations. There are no specific temperature requirements for HWS.

More information on heat waves from the National Weather Service

Doug Beardsley
952.851.2489
dbeardsl@careproviders.org

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