Outdoor Warning System

The City of Whitehouse is committed to the safety of all who live, work, or visit here. Our Outdoor Warning System is one of the tools we utilized to ensure your safety. The System is activated to alert you, the public, of a specific situation that may occur.

These warnings may be issued for a specific geographical area that may be affected. The Outdoor Warning System allows for both tone and audible voice alerts to the public. When the sirens are activated, people are encouraged not to call the Whitehouse Police Department or 911, but instead turn on your radio or television to obtain further information. Specific situations are as follows:

Tornado Warning

This tone will be activated in the event of a pending tornado. This warning will be initiated either by trained Storm Spotters or information received from the National Weather Service. The tornado warning tone will be transmitted for a period of three minutes.

The tornado warning tone will sound like this: Tornado Warning (MP3)

Emergency Warning

This tone will be activated in the event of an emergency other than a tornado warning. Some examples of when this tone will be activated would be an attack on the United States, terrorist attack, accidental mishaps such as a hazardous materials spill, or any other hazard that could affect public health, safety, and property covering a wide area. The emergency tone will be transmitted for a period of three minutes.

The emergency tone will sound like this: Emergency Warning (MP3)

All Clear

This tone will be activated when the specific emergency is over. The all clear tone will be transmitted for a period of ninety seconds.

The all clear tone will sound like this: All Clear (MP3)

Westminster Chime

This tone is a non-emergency tone that will be utilized periodically for single site testing for maintenance purposes and during our monthly test of the system. This tone cycles only one time per activation (approximately 10 seconds) Again this tone will be activated for non-emergency purposes only.

The Westminster Chime tone sounds like this: Westminster Chime (MP3)

Testing

The Outdoor Warning System is tested monthly on the first Tuesday of every month at 11 a.m. The test will go as follows:

• Activation of the Westminster Chime (MP3) followed by a public announcement - This is a test of our Outdoor Warning System. This is only a test.
• Activation of the Tornado Warning (MP3) and Emergency Warning tones (MP3).
• Activation of the All Clear (MP3) tone.
• Public Announcement - This concludes our test of the Outdoor Emergency System followed by activation of the Westminster Chime (MP3).

Note: In the event of a forecast of inclement weather, the monthly testing will be canceled for the month.