Some area tornado sirens will not be sounding for impending weather

MONROE/CLAY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – In some parts of the viewing area today, people may not be hearing the familiar sound of weather sirens.

WCBI received news earlier today that the Mooreville community siren is currently out of operation.

Clay County EMA is reporting outages with 3 of its sirens in West Point, and Monroe County Director of Emergency Management, Donna Sanderson says the Darracott and Becker School sirens are down waiting on repairs.

Emergency managers and our own meteorologists stress the importance of having more than one way of getting your weather warnings.

NOAA weather radios and smartphone apps are very reliable, and several counties, including Monroe and Clay provide warnings for various weather emergencies through the CODE RED system.

Today’s biggest threat may not be tornadoes, but high winds.

“Straight-line winds can be as dangerous or more dangerous as a tornado. Because you have, you know, we have high wind warnings right now, but last week we had a tornado – F1 come through Monroe County, but the high wind is what, you know, it’s about as damaging as a tornado,” said Donna Sanderson, Director of Emergency Management and 911.

Some Emergency Managers will be sounding the weather sirens if the wind speeds get above 80 miles per hour, whether there is an active tornado warning or not.