JACKSON, Wyo. — Don’t be alarmed if you hear sirens today — they’re a test!
Teton County Emergency Management will be testing outdoor warning sirens Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Teton Village, Teton Pines, Wilson, downtown Jackson, Gregory lane, Adams Canyon, and Hoback Junction. Sirens will sound throughout the day in short bursts no longer than one minute at a time.
“The audible ranges are models, and don’t exactly reflect that is heard on the ground,” said Teton County Emergency Management Coordinator Rich Ochs. What you hear will depend on terrain, atmospheric conditions, and whether sirens are indoors or outdoors during activation.
Outdoor sirens are designed to do exactly as the name suggests: warn people outside that something is wrong. They are not designed to reach inside of buildings, so residents should not expect to hear a siren clearly from indoors.
“Most people associate outdoor warning sirens with tornadoes,” Ochs said. “Our sirens are for all hazards and hearing a three-minute siren wail means that you should tune to local radio, All-Hazards Weather Radio, trusted online local media, or your phone for an alert to find out what is going on.”
“Sirens are part of our comprehensive public alerting system,” Ochs added. In addition to sirens, Teton County Emergency Management can issue text/email alerts to subscribers with its Nixle notification system (www.nixle.com), alerts to all cell phones in Teton County with FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alerts, messages to local radio and television broadcasters via the Emergency Alert System, and through social media like Facebook (@teton.wy.ema) and Twitter (@tetonwyo_em).
“The problem is when we lose internet, cell service, phone lines, or power, some of these systems won’t work. Sirens are resilient because they don’t use complicated infrastructure to operate,” Ochs said.
Check out this interactive map of outdoor warning siren locations along with estimated audible distances. It is also available online here.
