Emergency Managment to test alert system Friday morning

August 30, 2012

Storms may come unexpectedly, and some residents in and out of the city limits may not always be in a situation where they can rely on storm sirens as a fair warning to prepare for extreme weather. This is where the Texas County Emergency Management Director Harold Tyson hopes to inform the area citizens of outdoor warning devices available for them.
"Our storm sirens that we have are old, but we have other devices that people can use now," said Tyson. "People can use NOAA radio, and we can do texting now."
Tyson explains that they use them as outdoor warning devices.
"They're not made for people that are in the house that are expecting to hear that a storm is coming," said Tyson. "It all comes down to preparing for your family when something does happen. We've got a lot of things we can do now days that we can do to prepare our families."
Making sure that everyone takes care of themselves and their families is something that Tyson wants to express as being a very important issue when bad weather is approaching an area, and how being prepared can save a lot of time and lives.
"When people aren't prepared it takes time from first responders and puts their lives in danger," said Tyson. "I just want everybody to be prepared and use it."
Tyson said that warnings will be available via text for the county residents, and will be available for residents outside of the county. He said the city of Guymon has texting as well for residents inside the city.
For people of the county interested in using this warning system, forms can be found at the Emergency Management office or the City Hall and can be faxed in, and dispatchers will put it in the computer. City residents may go through the Guymon Police Department webpage and fill out the form online to be put in the system.
Tyson also explained that the City of Guymon also has voice and email warnings as well, and Emergency Management is working towards getting the same resources for individuals who may not have cell phones or access to text messaging services.
One last testing will be taking place Friday morning at 10 a.m. for the year until next tornado season.