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Severe
Weather Safety Information for Blackwell Residents
Stay
Informed:
There are several ways that you can stay informed
about severe weather before, during and after severe weather impacts Blackwell. Please do not
call the Police Dept. for weather updates. Below are several ways for you to stay
informed.
- Subscribe to
“Nixle”! If you have a phone that can receive text messages you can subscribe for
FREE! There are no sign-up or monthly fees. (time and message rates from your local cell
phone carrier apply.) The Severe Weather Operations Department will
send text messages about Weather Watches, Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings. Also on
Nixle, local hazards including power outages and river flooding and it’s impact on Blackwell. If you do not
have a cell phone, you may know of someone that does. They can subscribe to Nixle and then
call you with important weather updates even if they don’t live in Blackwell! If you have a
smart phone just text Blackwell’s zip code, “74631” and send it to telephone number
“888777”. It’s that easy. You can also go to their web
site:
www.nixle.com.
- Scanners have been
and are widely used by Blackwell residents to monitor the Police, City Electric crews, Fire Dept., and of
course, Blackwell Storm Spotters! The Storm Spotter scanner frequency is
155.235. Some of our Storm spotters are Ham Radio Operators and use the frequency of
145.310.
- Since the Tornado of
1955, spotters have given listeners an extra “heads-up” about approaching storms, and possible
impacts. Within the last year, many of their critical reports have also been sent thru Nixle
text messages to Nixle subscribers.
- NOAA Weather
Radios! If you have never owned one, these devices will automatically turn themselves on and
sound an alarm if a watch or warning is issued by the national weather service in Norman, Wichita or
Tulsa. These devices are especially valuable to warn you of approaching severe weather in
the overnight hours. Many utilize these radios to alert them to turn on the TV, radio or
their scanners to stay informed.
- Get Real Cable
channel #65. Before and during severe weather in our area, Lonnie McCulloch displays radar
for our area in addition to passing important information to their subscribers.
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Blackwell also has a very good website that you can watch all the current conditions
and learn more about the storm spotters and their terminology. In addition, local radar,
forecasts, warnings and other information from the National Weather Service, and the Storm Prediction Center is
available. Find this site on the web and bookmark it:
www.blackwellskywarn.org
Tornado
Sirens: Blackwell residents are truly fortunate to
be in a City that has installed some of the best sirens on the market today. Below are extremely
important items to be aware of:
·
There
is not an “All Clear” siren. Except for testing, when you hear the Tornado
Siren…seek shelter! If you hear another siren sound again, you should seek shelter
and or remain in your shelter. Once again, Nixle text messages will be sent to
subscribers, informing them that the sirens are being sounded again. Rule of
thumb: you should wait 45 minutes from the last activation of the siren to consider
yourself “in the clear”. In addition, a text message will be sent via Nixle announcing
that the City of Blackwell is “in the clear”.
·
Weather
permitting, the City of Blackwell does test the Tornado Sirens on Thursdays shortly before noon, weather
permitting. A text message thru Nixle will be sent to subscribers notifying them of the
test before it begins.
·
You
may hear the sirens referred to as “Outdoor Warning Systems”. Even though they are quite
loud and easily heard if you’re outside, they may be difficult to hear when you are inside your
home. This is due to improvements in home insulation, competing noise from inside the
home, (tvs (most households have at least one), stereos, IPods™, and dishwashers) and noise external to the
home (thunder, wind, hard rain, etc..) can make it very difficult to hear the storm sirens.
New
E.O.C.: E.O.C. stands for Emergency
Operation Center. For safety and operational reasons, the E.O.C. has been relocated to City
Hall. There is a “safe room” for our Severe Weather Operations radar and radio operators to seek shelter. If an
event were to occur in Blackwell, the new location is centrally located for all dept. supervisors to conduct
emergency meetings. A new weather station has been installed on top of City Hall with the collected data available
to the E.O.C., Police & Fire Departments.
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