The City of Athens activated its warning sirens during a Tornado Warning Friday evening.
Several Henderson County Now readers reported not hearing the sirens, so we asked City Manager Philip Rodriguez to explain the system.
He said:
The City’s outdoor warning sirens and CodeRed emergency alert system were activated late yesterday afternoon after we assessed the threat of an imminent tornado warning from the National Weather Service. Our Emergency Management team activates those two systems when something life-threatening may take place.
Outdoor warning sirens are designed to alert those who are outside that something dangerous is approaching. Hearers of the sirens should go indoors, get more information, and in most weather-related cases, take shelter.
The City of Athens has eight locations were the sirens are located. Those closest to the sirens may be able to hear the siren from inside a building, but an outdoor warning system is designed only for those outside.
The City’s aware that two of the eight sirens that were activated yesterday continued to run even after the imminent threat moved out of our area. Our Emergency Management team plans to test those later next week to determine why that happened and make any appropriate adjustments; however we will wait for a day when there’s no weather concerns in our community.
We urge residents and business owners to have an all-hazards NOAA Weather Radio inside their house or place of business. The radio is designed to alert you, even if you’re asleep. Folks can view this much like smoke alarms in their buildings, and it can be a life-saver in the event of threatening weather or other public emergencies.
Be glad you have sirens. I live in Tool, and we don’t have sirens at all.