07/14/2025
Outdoor warning systems (sirens) have been in the news a lot recently. With the active severe weather season in our area and the tragic flooding in the southern plains it is maybe a good time to review the intent of these systems.
These systems are outdoor warning systems; they are not engineered or designed to provide a signal loud enough to be consistently heard indoors or wake you at night. Granted, if you live near one of these, you are likely very much aware that you can hear it inside your home. However, the intent of all outdoor warning systems is to alert members of the public that are outdoors of a potential threat, and they should go indoors and seek more information.
In our community, these systems are activated with a 45 second wail (ramp-up - ramp-down) siren sound to summon volunteer firefighters of a call. For a tornado or imminent dangerous wind threat the system is activated for five minutes with repeated attention getting sounds and a recorded voice stating: "this is a tornado warning".
The utilization of these systems varies significancy in terms of threats that they may alert for. Across America threats that outdoor warning systems are activated for include tornado, tsunami, flood, nuclear emergency (near nuclear power plants and facilities) and other threats that may be somewhat unique to a specific location. However, all are designed as outdoor warning systems with the intent of alerting you to go indoors and seek more information about the threat or situation in the immediate area.