Over the years, the City of Keene has invested in warning systems to alert residents of approaching severe weather. However, there is often confusion on what a person should do if they hear the sirens activate. Keene Fire would like to help educate residents on what it means when the sirens are activated in town.
A Warning Tool for Hazardous Weather
An Outdoor Warning System (OWS) is a system designed to alert people who are outdoors and not in the safety of a sturdy structure. Usually, people are not around a radio, TV, or any other device that may provide weather warnings while they are outdoors.
Traditionally, these systems have been mistakenly referred to as “tornado sirens,” but the term fails to acknowledge all hazardous situations for sounding sirens. These situations include, but may not be limited to tornadoes, hail, high winds, or other catastrophic events in which the community needs to be informed immediately.
The OWS should only be used as a supplemental warning tool. Citizens should always tune in to their local weather station to get additional information.
Criteria for Setting Off the OWS
The Outdoor Warning System may be activated should any of the following occur:
- Tornadoes, funnel clouds, or other catastrophic events reported by the:
- City Administrator
- Mayor
- National Weather Service
- Supervisor for the Fire Department
- Supervisor for the Police Department
- Supervisor for the Public Works Department
- Trained storm spotters
- Johnson County is under a under a Tornado Warning and a system has crossed the County line that could cause potential severe weather for the Keene area.
- Any condition which is judged to be hazardous to the citizens and an early warning could potentially save lives.
Understanding the Purpose of the Emergency Sirens
Sirens are not just for tornadoes; they can also be for other catastrophic events. Furthermore, these policies follow the regional guidelines that were developed for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, by the National Weather Service for Outdoor Warning System activation. This is the criteria that most cities in North Texas have adopted and use.
Receive Phone, Text, or Email Emergency Notifications
The City of Keene is able to send you emergency alerts via text message, email, pager, or voicemail (in extreme cases), based on your preferences. It is important that we collect this contact information because many households no longer utilize traditional land-based telephone lines.
The system is intended to be used for emergency alerts, as well as non-emergency incidents that may have significant impacts to residents. Emergency Alerts could be related to specific hazards that require some kind of action be taken such as evacuation, shelter in place, boil water orders, etc. Non-emergency alerts could include significant transportation problems with prolonged impacts or significant ongoing police or fire activity. This list is not meant to be all inclusive, and demonstrates that this system will not be used for routine information. In addition to receiving information on your wireless device, you may also receive notification on your land telephone line (if you have one) depending on the type of incident or event.
Please provide your address and preferred method(s) of contact. Adding your address will allow tailoring so you do not receive alerts that don’t pertain to your geographical area.
These alerts are provided free of charge, however standard text messaging rates and other charges may apply.
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