Jim Wells County outdoor tornado warning systems ready

• Preparations underway in Alice and jim Wells County especially the outdoor warning system.
• Patrick Thomas, Alice Emergency Management Coordinator said the sirens are only used with information from the National Weather Service and for those in the tornado path.
• There are eight outdoor sirens across the county.

Emergency personnel in Alice and in Jim Wells County are doing their part to prepare for possible severe weather, but the community also need to do its part.

As part of those preparations are testing the outdoor emergency system in case officials need to use the tornado warning sirens.

Annabelle Garcia lives just outside Alice city limits and she said, “Yes, I’ve heard them before.”

Garcia has lived I the outskirts of Alice for nearly 40 years. She said the volunteer fire department near her home tests the sirens regularly.

Patrick Thomas is the Alice Emergency Management Coordinator. He said there are eight sirens across the county - six in the City of Alice and two in the county.

“We’re prepared. We’ve been testing all of our equipment. Testing all of our systems. Making sure our facilities are prepared. We’re very fortunate that our city does have an outdoor warning system,” Thomas said.

He said they’ve been preparing for the hurricane season since before Tropical Storm Alberto was in the gulf. Now - with Hurricane Beryl, they’re reviewing all systems as precaution.

Another one of those preparation is to make sure all emergency personnel are in communication with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi.

“The idea behind the warning system is that if somebody is outdoors - they should hear the siren and it’ll get them to take action. And then move indoors, seek shelter because there’s a tornado in the area,” Thomas said.

While the sirens will go off when needed, Thomas said stay alert with all alert warning systems available to you.

Thomas tells us every siren will go off at once, but it depends were the tornado path is.

“If I hear a siren and it’s for tornado warning - there’s a closet between the halls and I would go in there. Because there’s no windows,” Garcia said.

Emergency officials said with Hurricane Beryl still on the move - we should be prepared of all potential situations.

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