James Spann and warnings

TV Meteorologist James Spann says NEVER rely on outdoor sirens for warning ... and he's right.

The outdoor sirens in Altus are used for specific events according to the Emergency Operations Plan drafted by your Local Emergency Planning Committee and adopted by your local elected officials.

They are outdoor warning devices.  They are not designed to warn you when you are inside with the windows shut with the TV turned up loud so you can hear it over your MP3 player plugged into the ears.  They won't warn you if you can't hear the ambulance, police car, or fire truck behind you.

THREE ways to get warnings in the area ... please pick three ways ... Here's some ideas.

The City has Blackboard Connect.  Make sure you ask for the SMS or Email alerts.

There's the amateur radio Skywarn group.  There is no charge to listen with your scanner and some groups feed their signals out to RadioReference.com

There's the TV stations, radio stations and even newspapers are publishing electronic information.  See the media list on this page.

The National Weather Service has the all-hazards radio station located just south of Altus on a high hill with a tall tower on it serving North Texas and Southern Oklahoma.  Receivers can be obtained by a number of local vendors.  Get Specific Area Messaging Encoder (SAME) receivers, if you want to sleep at night.

Give me three ways to get an alert because, really, do you LIVE outside?