TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Along with testing tornado sirens, the Lucas County EMA will also be testing out its new alert system Wednesday morning.
Across the Buckeye State, tornado sirens will be sounding just before 10 a.m. It is an important test as severe weather season approaches but, not all Ohioans will be able to hear it.
“Outdoor warning sirens notify you when there is a tornado. If you’re outdoors, you can hear the siren and if you’re within proximity of a siren,” Lucas County EMA director Abby Buchhop said.
Buchhop said her team is implementing a new system to alert as many people as possible in the county.
“The notification system is a step in the right direction toward improving the mass notification system that we have in Lucas County,” Buchhop said.
Powered by Ever Bridge, the new system has already enrolled previous subscribers to alerts from the Lucas County EMA.
Buchhop said that only about 15% of the county’s population is registered to receive those alerts. A number that she said needs to grow, especially during this time of year.
“Especially with us on the cusp of severe weather season, we need to make sure that we have the ability to test these systems and maintain them, and make sure they are operational for when we really need to make contact with the public,” Buchhop said.
If you are not registered for the alerts, you can register by clicking here.
If you are registered, you should receive either a text or email alert Wednesday morning.
Due to the system change, the number and email address will be different from those of prior years. To ensure you are not receiving a spam message, the numbers and email you should receive alerts from are 89361 or 89362 and no-reply-EverBridge.net.
Buchhop said that though it can seem like we are getting more and more alerts than ever, test runs like Wednesday’s can truly make a difference for everyone in the county.
“Those are done to maintain an operational status and have methods to communicate to the public. So the last thing we want to do is not test them and find out they’re not operational in the event of an emergency or after which is even worse,” Buchhop said.
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