As we head into the spring months, the risk of severe thunderstorms typically increases across the state of Illinois, including the risk for tornadoes. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recommended social distancing parameters, people who rely on public sheltering from tornadoes could be faced with the difficult choice of sheltering from the tornado in a community shelter or refraining from going to the shelter in order to limit potential exposure to COVID-19. At this time, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service are recommending that your first priority should be to protect yourself from a potential tornado. However, the decision to open a community shelter will ultimately be at the discretion of local officials. Before you make the decision to go to a community shelter, you should first check with local officials to ensure they will be open. This should be done ahead of any thunderstorm, well before any warnings are issued. For more information regarding tornado and severe storm safety, as well as Illinois COVID-19 updates, please visit ready.illinois.gov