The City of Whitewater Office of Emergency Management is adding three new outdoor warning sirens during the week this week. The city’s provider, Emergency Communication Services, will be installing the new sirens. One siren will be located on Coburn Hill, the second will be located near the corner of Florence Street and Tratt Street and the third is scheduled to be installed on Burr Oak Trail near Fremont Road. During the installation process, each of the sirens will be tested with about a 10-15 second sounding of the siren. The sirens are designed to provide overlap coverage to the city’s existing, aging siren system. The goal is to replace the existing system with the newer system without losing coverage. The new sirens will have battery back-up for times when and if the city loses power. The current sirens will remain in place and functional until they are no longer economical to maintain.

“Outdoor warning systems such as these sirens are designed only to alert those who are outside that something dangerous is approaching; they are not intended to provide coverage inside buildings,” says Todd Lindert, Whitewater Emergency Management Coordinator. “When a siren is sounded it means that something lifethreatening is happening and you should go indoors and get more information.” Whitewater’s Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service recommends a National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Emergency Weather Alert Radio for use indoors. A NOAA Weather Radio is like a smoke detector for severe weather; it will wake a person up when a warning is issued for their area to take appropriate action. Contact Todd Lindert at 262-473-0570 or TLindert@whitewater-wi.gov for questions.