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 withhttp://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!
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