March 1-7 is Severe Weather Preparedness Week. This week is a good week to test your weather alert radios, Tornado drills were held on Tuesday, and tests will be sent to the radios and the Emergency Alert Systems to make sure they are functioning correctly. Chris Miller, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, says that the main thing to think about now, especially after all the damage yesterday in Nashville is to have a plan in place.

Miller also says to have more than one source for getting weather updates as well.

Miller says that in Illinois it’s important to be prepared as 20% of all tornadoes in Illinois come at night.

Illinois ranks 4th in the US for the most tornadoes per square mile behind Florida, Kansas, and Maryland. Of the top 20 counties in Illinois with the most tornadoes, 12 are in central or eastern Illinois including, Logan, Sangamon, Macon, and Christian Counties.