The Dallas Morning News
(TNS)
The one outdoor warning siren in Valley View malfunctioned during Saturday night’s storms, but has been fixed, according to officials.
Before the deadly tornadoes that swept through parts of Denton and Cooke counties late Saturday, Valley View firefighters tried to activate the siren, but it didn’t set off an audible alert, a news release from the volunteer department said Wednesday night.
“Crews were unable to immediately rectify the issue and abandoned the siren,” the release said. A post advising people to take immediate shelter was made on the department’s Facebook, and the National Weather Service had also issued alerts about the tornado for Valley View and areas south of the city.
The Thunderbolt Air warning system in Valley View has to be manually activated and is mounted on a 25-foot pole on the southeast side of the downtown square.
“The system is an outdoor warning system, meaning that it is meant to warn people that are outside to seek shelter,” the release said. “It is very loud, however it is not meant to be heard indoors. It also is not designed to reach outside of the city limits.”
The farthest that the siren can be heard outside is roughly a half-mile, and that distance decreases if the person is indoors.
Frf Estates, the Shell gas station and other locations most impacted by the tornado and storms are more than 3 miles from the siren.
“The siren is in no way designed to be a warning system for the areas impacted by the tornado,” the release said.
The fire department is responsible for testing the siren monthly and reporting its condition to the city. The tests typically occur at 2 p.m. the first Thursday of the month, but it had not been tested the last couple months due to weather conditions at the time.
The power for the siren system comes from the City Hall building, which was recently renovated. Officials discovered Tuesday there was a wiring issue, but it has been remedied, according to the release.
The National Weather Service encourages people to have multiple ways to be alerted of dangerous weather, such as subscribing to weather alert text messages from local agencies and purchasing weather alert radios.
“When disaster strikes, you may have only a short time to make what might be a life or death decision,” the NWS said in a news release. “One of the most important things you can do is to be aware that a danger is present. Most of the injuries and deaths happen to people who are unaware or uninformed. For this reason, it is crucial that you have multiple ways to receive warning information.”
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