Preparedness – Receiving Emergency Communications

Always have Multiple Methods to receive emergency communications.

• NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio (NWR): NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Mobile Apps: FEMA, American Red Cross and the Weather Channel. Many local news media outlets offer apps and/or weather text alerts.
• DelcoAlerts: Delaware County offers you the opportunity to sign up to receive emergency notifications. This system enables us to provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons, and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods.
• Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) – Emergency messages sent by authorized government alerting authorities through your mobile carrier.
• Emergency Alert System (EAS) – Is an alert that is sent to TV and radio stations. Used for severe weather alerts and can be utilized for other events.
• Outdoor Warning Sirens – Siren on a pole located in various spots throughout the county. Used for tornado warnings, sirens are designed to be heard outdoors.

Delco Alerts is an emergency alert system that allows you to opt in to receive notifications via phone calls, text messages, and/or emails based on the locations (addresses) you enter into the system.

Please note that there are some portions of Westerville, Columbus, and Dublin that are located in Delaware County but receive their Emergency Managment/9-1-1 service from those cities. Addresses in those portions of the county would not be able to sign up for Delco Alerts.

Delaware County’s Emergency Communications Department maintains Delco Alerts. Sign up for this service on their website.

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts, and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In coordination with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Alert System, NWR is an “All Hazards” radio network, making it your single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information.

In conjunction with Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards – including natural, environmental, and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).

The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system is an essential part of America’s emergency preparedness. Since its launch in 2012, the WEA system has been used over 56,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations. All through alerts on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices.

WEA is a public safety system that allows customers who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area.

WEA enables government officials to target emergency alerts to specific geographic areas.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system commonly used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as weather and AMBER alerts, to affected communities over television and radio. EAS participants, such as radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers, deliver state and local alerts on a voluntary basis, but they are required to deliver Presidential alerts, which enable the President to address the public during a national emergency.

FEMA and the FCC work collaboratively to maintain the EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which are the two main components of the national public warning system. Authorized federal, state, and local authorities create the alerts that are transmitted through the system. FEMA is responsible for any national-level activation and tests of the EAS.

Delaware County tests the outdoor warning system on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:01 PM. If there is a threat of severe weather in the area, the test will be cancelled.

Outdoor warning sirens are designed to be heard by people outdoors and are a signal that they should seek shelter indoors immediately. They are NOT designed to be heard inside buildings.

When outdoor warning sirens are activated, you must take immediate action to minimize injuries and fatalities. Seek shelter: In a basement or the lowest level of a sturdy building. If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level. Stay away from windows and put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. If you are in a mobile home, even if your home is tied down, they are not safe. Identify a shelter location before severe weather hits. Get information: Listen to local radio, TV, and/or NOAA All-Hazard Alert Radio for further instructions, additional information, or updates on when conditions are safe. Get your information from reliable sources.

During a tornado warning, the sirens operate on a cycle of 3 minutes on followed by 10 minutes off, for the duration of the warning.  Remember, the safest place to shelter is in the lowest level of a building, away from windows. No “all clear” is issued via sirens; make sure you have at least one method to receive emergency communications while you shelter.

The sirens are activated via the Delaware County 9-1-1 Center and/or Delaware County EMA for tornado warnings (not watches). All sirens will sound countywide for any tornado warning that intersects the Delaware County boundary. Activation occurs under the following conditions:

• A tornado warning is issued for any part of Delaware County by the National Weather Service
• A tornado or funnel cloud is sighted by current public safety personnel.

The four sirens are in the two state parks and are maintained by the Delaware County EMA. The others are owned and maintained by various local governments.

It is recommended that people rely on more than one source of information about severe weather.