Not at this time. Civil defense sirens are a World War II-era mechanism initially designed to warn individuals who were outdoors to go indoors in preparation for an impending air raid. In the 1950s these sirens multiplied across the country as the first line of defense against nuclear fallout during the cold war. Once again, the primary function of the sirens was to warn those out of doors to go indoors.
Today many populated areas continue to utilize this legacy technology as a weather signal to warn those who are outdoors to go indoors. These sirens were not designed to be heard indoors, particularly with improvements in modern insulation and building materials, nor do they provide useful information about an impending threat. In fact, most weather emergency plans suggest that, once indoors, you utilize traditional local media sources and NOAA weather radios for additional information about the potential threat. Sirens require manual activation, are susceptible to lightning damage and other malfunctions, and are cost-prohibitive to install and maintain.
Additionally, evolving technology by cellular providers and NOAA will automate wireless emergency alerts to cell phones across the nation in the near future as part of their "Weather-Ready Nation" program, which is currently being piloted in 14 states. These messages will produce an audible and vibration alert, display the type and time of the alert, as well as recommended actions, and will be broadcast by cellular towers, giving you additional peace of mind while on the go.
In lieu of warning sirens at this time, the Town recommends that you sign-up receive storm warnings through the Denton County Alerts system and that you consider the use of a portable NOAA weather radio in conjunction with traditional local media outlets (local TV channels 4, 5, 8 and 11), internet radar (such as National Weather Service or The Weather Channel) and smartphone apps (such as American Red Cross, The Weather Channel) or text message alerts.
