Outdoor Warning System

Sirens are designed to warn people outdoors of impending severe weather or other hazards. Indoor alerting monitors with direct communications to the Police Communications Center are available at a cost to the user. Several businesses in Whitewater have monitors to protect their employees and others in the event of severe weather. Contact the Emergency Management (EM) office for purchase information.

Siren Activation

The activation of the warning sirens alerts the public to seek shelter and to turn on radio or television broadcasts for further information. The warning sirens may also be used for other emergencies, including chemical spills or toxic hazards, which may require residents to take action. Information pertaining to these activation's will be made available through radio and television announcements to inform you as the actions to be taken. "All clear" announcements will be made over the television or radio, and not by means of the warning sirens.

  1. Criteria for Activation
  2. Siren Locations
  3. Siren Testing

Whitewater uses sirens as an effective means of warning people outdoors of rapidly approaching dangerous weather. Severe thunderstorms and associated lightning and hail present a great threat to people who are caught outdoors or are residents of manufactured housing units which are especially vulnerable to the winds of a severe or very severe thunderstorm. Early warning is also necessary in order to diagnose the possibility that an electrical power outage could occur, which would make our sirens inoperable. These sirens need to be sounded early in order to preempt this possibility.

  • A severe thunderstorm includes predicted wind speeds of 58 miles per hour or greater
  • A very severe thunderstorm includes wind speeds of 75 miles per hour or more
  • Tornado warning indicates that a tornado has been sighted in the area. It should be noted that tornadoes generally form on the backside of severe thunderstorms and follow the high winds, lightening, rain, and hail that accompany severe thunderstorms.

No Severe Weather

Although there is always the potential that a warning may sound and the severe weather may not actually affect Whitewater, it is determined to be better to give the warning and allow residents to seek further information from the radio and television broadcasts than to delay the warning and possibly not have residents advised in a timely manner.

Questions

Should you have any questions relating to severe weather and siren activation, please feel free to contact the Office of Emergency Management at 262-473- 0570.