CITY OF MORROW EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

EMERGENCY EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

When disaster strikes, you may have only a short time to make what might be a life or death decision.  Even though it is rare, catastrophic events such as tornadoes or major chemical spills do occur.  We can not predict exactly where or when they will occur, but we can take precautions to minimize the danger.

One of the most important things you can do is be aware that a danger is present.  Most of the injuries and deaths happen to people who are unaware or uninformed.  For that reason, it is crucial that you understand the City of Morrow Early Warning System.

The primary siren is located in Daniel Park, adjacent to Morrow City Hall, with the activation point located in the City of Morrow 911 Center.  The honeycomb-shaped siren can be heard throughout the city and is intended as an “all-hazards” alerting system and may be activated for any type of emergency situation.

The sirens are activated before 12:00 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month as part of a monthly test.

The system has pre-recorded messages for a thunderstorm warning, flood warning, a chemical spill; seek shelter warning, and all clear. The emergency messages can be repeated as often as necessary until the crisis situation has passed. In rare circumstances, we can use the live-voice feature that allows us to make other emergency announcements.

If you hear the tornado sirens, follow these steps:

If in your home or other building:

• Go to the lowest floor, center room, interior hallway or a room without windows.
• Crouch as low as possible to the floor, facing down and cover your head with your hands.
• Cover yourself with some sort of thick padding for protection against falling debris.
• Stay off of elevators.

If driving, follow these steps:

• Get out of your vehicle and seek shelter in a sturdy building.
• If no shelter is nearby, run to low ground away from any cars. Lie flat and face down, protecting the back of your head with your arms.
• Avoid seeking shelter under bridges, which can create deadly traffic hazards while offering little protection against flying debris.

Having the ability to activate a siren when a severe weather warning is issued or to make a city wide announcement greatly enhances our ability to help keep the citizens of Morrow safe.