RICHMOND (AP) -- A record 1.2 million Virginians registered for Tuesday's statewide tornado drill.
It began at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday when the National Weather Service sent out a test tornado warning to weather radios. Television and radio stations also will broadcast a test message.
The department encouraged residents and schools to participate and more than 500,000 people registered.
Students at Elephant's Fork Elementary know what tornado damage can do. In April 2008, a tornado swept through Suffolk, damaging the school.
Fortunately, school wasn't in session, but several students and administrators were there for a tutoring program and to finish the day's work.
"I thought I was gonna get sucked up in the funnel and I just wouldn't see my family again," recalled Alyssa Felgentreau.
"I was able to get up from my desk quickly because the window that is about this far from my head in the chair where I normally sit blew-out. It would have been quite a different story had I not gotten up and gotten out," said Sid Neighbors, the assistant principal.
Officials recommend designating a tornado shelter in an interior room away from windows on the lowest level of a building, home or school.
According to the emergency management agency, 16 tornadoes hit Virginia last year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
