Outdoor Warning Systems are put into
place in the City of Lowell to warn
citizens of impending threats from
severe weather. These systems are
designed to warn people who are
outdoors. You may or may not hear
them if you are inside your house.
All households should have a NOAA
Weather Radio with S.A.M.E.
(Specific Area Message Encoding) for
Benton County. Weather radios can be
purchased from a number of local
retailers.
For email and text alerts related to
severe weather, road closures and
general information, sign up with
http://bcalerlert.com.
It's free for Lowell Citizens.
Click HERE
to see the storm sirens map!
Outdoor Warning System Policy
Purpose: To establish guidelines
pertaining to use of outdoor warning
systems in the City of Lowell and to
establish recommendations for their
use.
Outdoor Warning System
An Outdoor Warning System (OWS)
consists of siren(s) designed to
alert citizens of approaching or
existing hazardous conditions, which
will require immediate protective
actions in order to save lives and
property. Traditionally, these
systems have been mistakenly
referred to as "tornado sirens" but
the term fails to acknowledge all
applications for sounding sirens.
I. Reasons for Activation
The City of Lowell has developed an
outdoor warning system to alert and
notify citizens in outdoor areas of
emergency situations. These
situations include but not limited
to natural emergencies,
transportation accidents involving
hazardous materials, emergencies at
fixed facilities, acts of terrorism
or other catastrophic events in
which the community needs to be
informed immediately. Citizens in
indoor areas should not mistakenly
wait to hear a siren as their only
source of warning information. A
NOAA All Hazards Radio with Specific
Area Message Encoding (SAME)
technology, and the Benton County
alert notification system (BC
Alert), and local radio and
television stations are good methods
of receiving warning messages and
information indoors.
II. Activation Guidelines
a. The Outdoor Warning System is to
be activated when there is official
notification of a tornado or funnel
cloud sighting in the city or
neighboring jurisdiction that has
the potential to impact the city.
b. The official notification means
that it is relayed by any public
safety agency or official, including
but not limited to, the National
Weather Service, Arkansas Crime
Information Center or the Benton
County Office of Emergency
Management.
The official notification received
must be of a tornado warning with
polygon lines entering or
encompassing the City of Lowell.
c. The Police Chief will be
contacted when official notification
is presented to the City of Lowell
for authorization to activate the
OWS.
d. If the event the Police Chief
cannot be contacted, the Police
Department's Commander on Call will
be contacted for authorization to
activate the OWS.
e. In the event a visual sighting of
a tornado or funnel cloud is viewed
by any Lowell Police Officer or
Firefighter or official, the Police
Shift Supervisor can authorize the
activation of the OWS.
f. In the event no authorization can
be obtained due to communications
failure, the Police Shift Supervisor
can authorize the activation of the
OWS.
g. Sightings reported by private
citizens will not be cause for
activating the OWS unless confirmed
by official sources or the report
seems credible and the threat
imminent.
h. The OWS can be activated for
other emergencies as directed by
City officials.
III. Outdoor Warning System
Procedure
OWS will be sounded with the 15
minute wail button continuously
while the tornado or other threat is
upon the City of Lowell. The OWS can
be activated from either dispatch
console, from one of the portable
radios specifically coded with tone
to set it off or it can be set off
manually at the siren decoder. When
the threat has passed, the cancel
tone will be sent to the siren
controllers to turn off the OWS.
There will not be an all clear siren
tone. Citizens need to tune to
radio/TV news for all clear.
IV. Notification of Activation
a. The Lowell Police Department
Dispatch Center should make external
notifications to neighboring
jurisdictions indicating the OWS has
been activated. Notification should
also be made to the Benton County
Emergency Operations Center.
b. The Police Chief, Commander on
Call, or the Police Shift Supervisor
that authorized the activation of
the OWS will notify the Lowell Mayor
of the activation.
V. Monthly Testing
The City of Lowell will test their
Outdoor Warning System (OWS) on the
first Wednesday of each month at
12:00 pm. OWS will not be tested
during periods in which severe
weather is possible, as to avoid
confusion between actual severe
weather and testing. The City of
Lowell may conduct additional
testing to ensure the OWS is
functioning properly.
VI. References
Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) Outdoor Warning System Guide,
CPG1-17R
Click HERE
to see the storm sirens map!