ENID, OK - Mike Honigsberg, Enid / Garfield County Emergency Management Certified Director announced today the testing of storms sirens in Enid will take place every Monday at 12 noon beginning in March 2018. According to Honigsberg, “We have always tested the sirens on the first Monday of the each month. Lightning, power surges, along with heat and cold temperatures sometimes affect the performance of these sirens. Testing sirens weekly instead of monthly will ensure that all are working properly and will work when needed the most. Our reasoning justifies this change because if there is an issue with one or more of our storm sirens, we can fix those issues before we need them.”
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According to Honigsberg, the first Monday of each month, weather permitting, the sirens will operate for the full three minutes. For the remaining Monday’s, the test will last for 30-45 seconds and then shut down. Parameters for the test include: if we are overcast, it’s raining, or temperatures are below 45 degrees, we will not test that day. We will test on the following Monday.
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Citizens in Enid are asked to help each Monday at noon by reporting if the siren nearest them does “not” work. You may email Mike Honigsberg at mhonigsberg@enid.org and let him know they “didn’t” work. The community’s assistance is always greatly appreciated.
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Presently, Enid has 41 sirens of which five are voice capable sirens and we’ll replace older existing sirens, over time, with new voice-capable sirens. In the event we have a devastating weather or man-made event, our outdoor warning system may be the only means of communication. Lessons learned from the past have shown that having this additional method of city-wide notification is a good thing until normal communication pathways are restored. The new sirens will be solar powered and battery operated and will not be connected to an electrical grid freeing up our ability to place new sirens in better locations.
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Director Honigsberg added, “Storm sirens are OUTDOOR warning devices. You will most likely not hear them inside your home. We recommend that if you have a smartphone to download our GARFIELD COUNTY EM app, available at the Google Play Store or Apple app store.”
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STORM SIRENS TEST TO BEGIN IN MARCH
