Beltrami County urges storm readiness during Severe Weather Awareness Week

Beltrami County wants residents to pick a shelter spot, sign up for Everbridge alerts and line up supplies now, before a warning siren, outage or blocked road turns a storm into an emergency.

Severe Weather Awareness Week runs through Friday, and Minnesota is using each day to focus on a different threat, from alerts and warnings to severe storms, lightning and hail, floods, tornadoes and extreme heat. The most visible test comes Thursday, April 16, when tornado drills are set for 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. CDT. Sirens will sound during the practice runs, giving schools, businesses and households a chance to see how quickly they can move to shelter if a real storm threatens Beltrami County.

That message has local weight. Beltrami County shifted its emergency notification system to Everbridge in 2026 after decommissioning CodeRED in 2025 following a vendor-level cyberattack and data breach at OnSolve. The county says Everbridge alerts can arrive by text message, phone call, email, mobile app and TTY/TTD, but text and call alerts require opt-in. Beltrami County Emergency Management also says it works with Beltrami County Public Health and the Beltrami County Community Health Board on preparedness planning during Severe Weather Awareness Week, Winter Hazard Awareness Week and National Preparedness Month.

Christopher Muller, Beltrami County Emergency Management Director, said hazard mitigation is central to the county’s emergency management program, and the county is updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan with U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The plan covers flooding, tornadoes, windstorms, winter storms, extreme temperatures, wildfire and drought, which reflects the range of weather that can hit the county in a single season.

Beltrami County does not own outdoor warning sirens, but it activates them for communities and facilities that have them in Bemidji, Lake Bemidji State Park, Kelliher, Waskish at Big Bog State Park and Blackduck. The sirens usually sound for about three minutes and do not include an all-clear signal. Lake Bemidji State Park’s siren is also used for all severe thunderstorm warnings.

Statewide, Minnesota averages about 46 tornadoes a year, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The state saw 83 tornadoes in 2022, the highest annual total since the record 113 in 2010. Most Minnesota tornadoes occur between May and August, but they have been recorded as early as March 6 and as late as December 15. In Beltrami County, the practical checklist is straightforward: know where to shelter, make sure every household member can receive alerts, keep a charged phone or battery radio ready and expect wind, hail, flooding and power loss to arrive together.