A tornado drill last Thursday helped prepare the campus when sirens sounded in response to a real tornado  Sunday night.

The alarm for the drill sounded at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23. The drill was part of Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week.

By the end of the weekend Platteville residents were asked to put that practice to use when tornado sirens went off Sunday night at 7:08 p.m. and again at 7:12 p.m.

Speculation was that the alarms were in response to a tornado near Dickeyville, but Platteville Police Chief Doug McKinnley said this was not a deciding factor.

“We would not put [the sirens] off with just a tornado outside Dickeyville,” McKinnley said.

McKinnley said the alarm sounded because a weather spotter reported seeing a possible tornado, as well as weather patterns likely to produce a tornado near Platteville.

McKinnley said it is important to plan for emergencies.

“This is the time of year when we are most prone to severe weather,” McKinnley said. “This is the best time to develop protocols for those situations.”

Dean of Students Rich Egley said the drill was helpful to the campus because it gave students some recognition of what the sirens sounded like and where to find the shelters.

Scott Marquardt, director of Campus Police, said there was no text sent out for the Pioneer Alerts service, set up earlier this semester. Marquadt said the idea of sending out messages for similar situations is something he will look into.

Egley said that it’s important for people to find the lowest available shelter and stay away from windows.