(CENTREVILLE) – It’s Severe Weather Preparedness Week in Michigan.

With that in mind, the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office and St. Joseph County Central Dispatch will be participating in the voluntary Statewide Tornado Drill on Wednesday at 1 PM. The County will be running a test of their weather sirens and encouraging residents to identify safe shelter locations before a tornado strikes.

St. Joseph County Emergency Manager Erin Goff and Central Dispatch Director Stacey Bower want to remind all residents that weather sirens are designed to be heard by those outdoors only. Individual cities, villages, and townships maintain their own sirens and not all areas have them.

It’s important to have multiple ways to receive severe weather notifications; including local radio and television stations; NOAA weather radios, emergency wireless alerts on cellular phones, and weather apps.