Village Warning Sirens

Outdoor warning sirens are located throughout the Village to notify the public of tornado warnings. Warning sirens are activated by the Village’s 9-1-1 Dispatch Center, according to information issued by both the National Weather Service and a private weather service. The primary purpose of warning sirens is to notify individuals who are outdoors at the time of a threat of a probable or imminent tornado. Warning sirens are not designed to penetrate the walls of homes and businesses, which means you may not always hear them inside your home. For that reason, it is important to have a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather radio as part of your emergency preparedness plan.

 

More information and FAQs about the Village's warning sirens.

What should you do when you hear the warning sirens activate?
If indoors at the time of activation:

1. Seek shelter immediately in the lowest level of your house, preferably in an interior room away from doors and windows.
2. Tune into radio or television stations for the latest information.
3. Remain in your place of shelter until the threat has passed.

If outdoors at the time of activation:

1. Seek shelter indoors, but not in a car or mobile home.
2. If there are no safe options indoors and a tornado is imminent, lie flat in the nearest ditch or depression and use your hands to cover your head.

Do not call 9-1-1 when the warning sirens are activated unless you have an actual emergency. Calling 9-1-1 may tie up the dispatch center’s resources when true emergencies may be occurring. 

NOAA Weather Radios
Do you and your family have a plan to stay informed about severe weather alerts? How will you find out about impending weather in the middle of the night or when the power goes out? The answer is simple! You need a weather radio!

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends every home have a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio so families can monitor severe weather and other dangerous storms. Weather radios transmit forecasts and severe weather warnings and watches from the National Weather Service (NWS) that come across the NOAA radio network 24 hours a day. The radio network broadcasts information about thunderstorms, tornado warnings, floods, winter storms, and other severe weather as well as information about oil spills, AMBER alerts, and 911 telephone outages. The best part is that a good weather radio can be tuned to the station closest to your home so that you only get the alerts for your area!

Weather radios are available for purchase in many electronic and big box stores and range in cost from $20 to $200. You don’t need to spend a lot to get a good radio, but here are some important features to look for:

• Alarm Tone – An alarm tone allows the radio to be set to silent, but produce a special tone to alert you of severe weather.
• Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) – This feature allows you to filter out alerts that don’t affect your immediate area so you only get the information you need.
• Hand Crank or Battery Operated – You want your radio to work even when the power goes out so a battery or hand- crank operated unit is best.
• Tunable to all NWS Frequencies

For more information about weather radios go to www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/. 

Severe Weather Awareness
General awareness is the key to dealing with severe weather. You can be better prepared just by monitoring local weather reports to determine when you need to take certain precautions. Monitoring the weather has never been easier thanks to a variety of tools available, including the internet, television, mobile applications, and weather radios, that can help keep you up to date. Check out some of the following websites where you can monitor the weather and/or sign-up to receive weather alerts:

www.weather.gov
www.weather.com
www.wunderground.com
www.accuweather.com
www.weatherbug.com