HOUGHTON – Many people panic when disaster strikes but Michigan Technological University passersby Tuesday should not get upset no matter what they see.

Michigan Tech is warning the public that it is conducting a mock disaster Tuesday afternoon, and it might look a lot like the real thing.

“There’ll be a bunch of sirens running through town,” Director of News and Media Relations Jennifer Donovan said, adding the drill will include MTU Department of Public Safety and Police Services and Incident Command Team, as well as the Houghton police and fire departments, the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office, Houghton-Keweenaw Office of Emergency Measures, UP Health System – Portage, Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital and Mercy EMS.

“The purpose of this drill is to practice emergency response and cooperation between Michigan Tech and the various agencies that might be involved in an actual situation,” she said.

Tech takes disaster training seriously. It annually revisits disaster procedures and has scheduled mock disasters in the past. It will follow these procedures during the training episode Tuesday when the mock disaster arises.

The Daily Mining Gazette will receive a media alert when the exercise begins. At the same time, Tech will establish a media center for a press briefing on the situation.

Tech staff will not know in advance exactly when or where the disaster will occur.

“We will find out when the Incident Command Team is called out, just as we would in a real disaster,” Donovan said.