The Outdoor Warning Systems are known by many as “tornado sirens” or just “sirens”. However, it is important to understand that the Outdoor Warning System(OWS) is designed for all hazards. As the name implies, the system is designed for people that are outdoors. Those that are indoors may not be able to hear the OWS for various reasons. The OWS should only be used as a supplemental warning tool for individuals. OWS can be used to alert citizens of tornadoes, hail, hazardous material incidents, civil emergencies, and any other impending hazard that could adversely affect the lives and property in the general vicinity.
When an Outdoor Warning System is activated, remain calm and go to safe shelter indoors. Then, tune into your NOAA All Hazards Radio or local television or radio for further instructions. Remain indoors until the emergency has ended.
To stay the most up to date, please visit Grayson County’s CodeRED page to register and receive emergency notifications.
Grayson County has instituted the CodeRED Emergency Notification System – an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. This system allows us to telephone all or targeted areas of the County in case of an emergency situation that requires immediate action (such as a boil-water notice, missing child or evacuation notices). The system is capable of dialing 60,000 phone numbers per hour. It then delivers a pre-recorded message describing the situations to a live person or an answering machine in the affected area possibly including instructions requiring action on the part of the recipient. Once the situation is remedied, another call will be placed to the area signaling that the issue has been addressed and that normal activities can be resumed.
CodeRED is a geographically based system where street addresses are needed to select the telephone numbers that will receive emergency notification calls. Public databases have been used to collect telephone numbers for existing Grayson County home and businesses and have been placed into the CodeRED database. However, sometimes the public databases contain outdated information. Thus no one should automatically assume his or her telephone number is included. All individuals and businesses should register, especially if you have an unlisted phone number, have changed your phone number or address within the last year, or you use a cellular phone as your home phone.
Visit Grayson County’s CodeRED page to register and receive emergency notifications.
Crystal DeBacker
Media Coordinator
City of Van Alstyne
cdebacker@cityofvanalstyne.us
903-357-1088