What Do They Mean and What Should You Do ?

Miami Township is a part of the Clermont County Emergency Management Agency, which signals 58 outdoor sirens in the county in the event of severe weather and other hazards. In addition, the Miami Township Trustees purchased 13 sirens in 2001 that provide over 95% coverage of the Township’s land mass.

The sirens are designed to alert folks who are outside their homes of approaching danger. They are not designed to alert people on the inside of their home. They are one part of a three-part system where the NOAA alert radio and the news media make up the other two components of the emergency notification system.

The appropriate response is to move inside and get information on the approaching hazard and directions for the appropriate actions to take. NOAA broadcasts the hazard information and the protective actions over the alert radio, and by the media over some radio and television stations.

The Clermont County Emergency Warning System is sounded whenever the National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning for Clermont County. Once the Tornado Warning has been issued, the sirens will activate for three minutes followed by silence for seven minutes. This activation cycle will continue until the weather warning is cancelled. When the weather warning has been cancelled, the sirens will no longer activate.

A Tornado Warning - is issued when a tornado has been sighted or is eminent. Seek safety and move to a safe place immediately.

A Tornado Watch - The conditions are favorable for a tornado. Listen to your local radio or television station for further details. Be prepared to move to a safe place.

Monthly Testing: The outdoor warning sirens are tested the first Wednesday at noon, weather permitting. The sirens are not tested during potential bad weather to avoid confusion. During this test, the sirens are activated for 30 seconds.

The NOAA alert radio is especially important during the times you are indoors and do not have the television or radio on. It sounds a tone for about 20 seconds and then announces what danger is imminent and the protective actions to take.

Note that the radio is no longer called a "Weather Alert Radio". Instead, it is called an "Alert Radio". The difference is that the radio will now alert for dangerous conditions other that just weather. One example might be a hazardous spill that may be sending a toxic plume toward a populated area. The newer radios are programmable for the types of hazards for which you want to be warned, and your county of residence. You are probably very interested in dangerous conditions occurring in Clermont County, and may want to include Hamilton County, since Miami Township is on the border. By limiting the hazards and counties, the programmable radios do not alert you to impending danger not in the area.

If you do not have a NOAA alert radio we highly recommend that you invest in one.

No matter which brand you get we recommend a model that can be programmed for specific counties and specific hazards. We suggest you program the radio for both Clermont and Hamilton counties because Miami Twp is located in Clermont County but on the border with Hamilton Co.

Source: Miami Township Fire/EMS Website