For many years, the City of Snyder utilized old Civil Defense sirens of the cold war era, as outdoor warning sirens. The City contracted a $ 45,000.00 upgrade to the siren controllers approximately 6 years ago, only to have continual failure and maintenance issues. This system was very susceptible to lightening strikes, power outages, and could be working perfectly one day, and intermittent the next day. Emergency Management Coordinators and Fire Chiefs in other cities, are well aware of the time and expense involved in trying to keep these functional, only to have them fail when tested, or needed for an actual emergency. The sirens only provided warning to those within hearing distance that some type of event was underway. The citizen had to consult media to determine what the event was, unless it was extremely obvious. Unfortunately, only those living inside the city, and in many cases, very close to the sirens could benefit from them, assuming they functioned. There was no warning to county residents.
What many fail(ed) to realize, is that these units worked on electricity, controlled by two way radios that also required electricity, and that a power outage could take the entire system down. Most power outages during severe weather occur when the front hits, with the high straight-line winds, lightening and hail. Tornados come after the front 99% of the time, so the dependability of these sirens relied on the hopes that power was still available to activate them.
After considerable investigation and testing, the City decided to move toward a warning system that could deliver a message, with instructions. These type systems do rely on telephones, which in almost all instances have either battery backup and/or generator power, that keep the majority of them working during power outages, both landline phones and cell sites. Additionally, these systems allow the public safety agency to provide a warning with instructions, as not all warnings are for tornados. Consider gas leaks, escaped convicts, floods, etc..
The City of Snyder, Scurry County and Kinder Morgan, partnered together to get the best possible system for warning our public. We currently have Code Red. With this system, public safety entities already have access to provide warning to all landline phones through the 911 database. It does require citizens to set up cell phones, and computers, which can then receive voice, text or e-mail messages. It also permits TDD for the hearing impaired, and while it takes an additional task, can Tweet, RSS and Facebook. Citizens can ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out’, for automatic notification of weather warnings from the NWS, which provides additional advance warning over and above what Emergency Management will provide. Emergency Management will make every attempt to warn when a tornado has been spotted. The old sirens were only activated when a tornado was spotted. By using the NWS options in Code Red, citizens can stay ahead of the actual spotting of a tornado, a huge advancement over outdoor warning sirens.
No system is 100% bullet proof. Any system can fail, and each system has its weak link. Technology has provided a system that is much more reliable than the old outdoor sirens which were muffled by rain and hail, redirected by wind, and were totally dependent upon commercial power being up and running, assuming lightening had not taken out a vital activation component. Code Red has greatly surpassed that with voice capability, and fairly reliable backup in the event of power failure.
Numerous newspaper articles have been printed in the SDN informing the public of this change, which began about 32 months ago. Civic Club presentations have been made, and the City Website promotes the system on their home page. Citizens have been encouraged to register by going to the City of Snyder Web Site (ci.snyder.tx.us, lower right hand corner of home page) and determine what phones they want to receive what messages. Approximately 1000 people have taken advantage of this. Anyone who does not have internet access or with problems can call the City IT department for help.
Of course, at the heart of everything is the responsibility of the Citizen. Citizens need to have situational awareness, know what weather is forecast for the day, stay tuned to TV, Radio, Radar and numerous other resources during severe weather, and be informed. Sometimes, there is no time for imminent warning, as tornados are not predictable with regards to where they touch down, how long they stay down, or the path they may take. The small tornado that hopped through the park and high school area a few years back actually touched down inside the city, was wrapped in rain and never seen by spotters that had been deployed. The weather service gave no warning as it was never indicated by radar, and by the time the sirens (or any other warning system) could have been activated, it was all over. Only a thunderstorm warning was issued that day. Neither warning system would have had time to alert citizens! Using the above actual event as a perfect example, citizens should never depend solely on any single agency or system to provide them total warning. In today’s modern world of technology, there are unlimited sources to provide information to help citizens prepare and shelter. Waiting until the house is shaking is probably waiting too late. In addition to the City/County system, numerous TV stations and other sources offer significant connectivity to obtain weather warnings, most of them free and available in the palm of one’s hand. NOAA weather radios, while not always reliable in all areas of Snyder, are inexpensive, and available at many stores for those without cell phones. The options are really endless to obtain information, prepare, and get warnings assuming time permits warnings to be issued.
The City of Snyder Fire Department has a storm shelter, for persons that have no safe place to ride out the storm. Unfortunately, space limits it to about 40 people, and it is only for the duration of the storm, as the space doubles as part of the Emergency Operations Center in the event of disaster. It is hoped that given recent events, churches and other large buildings with basements might open back up during severe weather like so many did in years gone by. If these become available, that information will be made known to the public.
Thanks,
Perry Westmoreland, Fire Chief/EMC