MANSFIELD -- Blaring sirens might be considered the standard warning when a tornado or severe storm is in the area, but the City of Mansfield believes technology provides a better way.
For nearly 10 years, the city has used the “Code Red” alert system to send phone notifications whenever potentially dangerous weather is near.
“We look for an opportunity to use technology to provide more detailed information,” said city spokesperson Belinda Willis.
In order to receive the robocall with information about the storm’s location, strength, and direction, one must register for Code Red alerts on the city website.
But with a population of 68,000 people, only about 11,000 have registered for alerts in Mansfield. The City tries to promote the system through their website and social media accounts, especially as storm season approaches.
Although the number of registered users seems relatively low, Willis believes the sheer number of weather apps and other sources of information help provide ample warning.
“We would love for [the number of registered phones] to be higher, but we also know there are other things out there. Our local TV stations do an amazing job of looking at the weather and keeping our citizens informed about what is happening.”
Willis said the City believes sirens would be too expensive to install and maintain, and the Code Red alerts are more effective. However, people like Deandra Gill believe the sirens would be a better attention grabber when severe weather arrives quickly.
“I sleep with earplugs at night, and if my phone is going off it is not going to wake me up. But I would wake up when the sirens went off when I lived in Duncanville,” said Gill.
She only found out about the alerts on a Facebook page for Mansfield mothers.
“Everybody was complaining about not getting sirens so then someone posted al ink for where you sign up,” she said.
But a siren’s ability to adequately alert people to an incoming storm is questioned by the City of Mansfield. Depending on the location of the siren and the amount of noise that might be in a neighborhood or in a home, the warning might not even be heard.
“An outdoor warning siren cannot tell you where a storm is located or what direction it is moving,” said Willis. “Years ago, you were not competing with three or four cable TVs or people with headphones listening to music, or all the different things within a house that create noise.”
The Hawaiian Falls water park and Big League Dreams baseball park are a couple of attractions that bring out-of-towners into Mansfield.
Those visitors likely do not know about the Code Red system, but Willis said the City’s Office of Emergency Management works closely with those parks to alert patrons about possible severe weather.