THE CITY OF NEWTON IS PREPARING FOR THE WORST ON FRIDAY. BUT THEY HOPE TORNADOES DON’T STRIKE TWICE IN THE SAME PLACE. THE SPRING TORNADO THAT BEGAN IN WINTERSET AND ENDED IN NEWTON LEFT BEHIND MILES AND MILES OF DESTRUCTION. IN NEWTON, THERE WAS DAMAGE TO THE DRIVE IN THEATER, THE BASEBALL FIELD AND THE CEMETERY. AND THE TORNADO SIRENS DIDN’T GO OFF. NOW, MOST OF THE DAMAGE IS REPAIRED AND THE SIRENS WORK JUST FINE. ASK SANDY PERRY. I HEAR THEM. YOU KNOW, THEY WERE NICE AND LOUD. YEAH, THEY WERE. THEY WEREN’T AS LOUD AS THEY’VE BEEN BEFORE, BUT THEY WORK. SO I FIGURE IF THEY WORK, THAT’S GOOD. THEY HAD A STATEWIDE TORNADO DRILL. THEY WERE ALL TESTED. THEY WERE ALL REPORTED TO BE FUNCTIONING AS EXPECTED. JOSH HARDING WORKS FOR THE JASPER COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER’S OFFICE. HE SAYS THEY’RE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON THE FORECAST. HIS ADVICE FOR CENTRAL IOWANS. HAVE A GOOD WAY TO GET EMERGENCY INFORMATION. HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR FAMILY AND BUILD AN EMERGENCY KIT IN CASE A TORNADO HITS. EXPERIENCE IS A GOOD TEACHER, AND I THINK THAT IT DEFINITELY REMINDS US TO TAKE THE WEATHER PREPAREDNESS STEPS THAT WE ARE ALWAYS ENCOURAGING. IT REMINDS US THAT, YES, WHEN WE TAKE THOSE STEPS, IT DOES MAKE THESE UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS A LITTLE BIT MORE EASY TO MANAGE WHEN THEY HAPPEN. I HAVE A WEATHER RADIO THAT MY GRANDCHILDREN SET UP FOR ME BECAUSE I’M OLD. AND I’D HAVE THAT ON. NORMALLY TORNADOES DON’T STRIKE THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON IN MARCH, BUT NOW WE KNOW THEY DO. IN NEWTON, TOD