Lucas County to Test New Tornado Alert System Amid Severe Weather Season

TOLEDO, Ohio — As severe weather season approaches, Lucas County will conduct an important test of its tornado sirens and a newly implemented alert system on Wednesday morning. The test, scheduled to take place just before 10 a.m., is a critical step in ensuring the county is prepared to communicate with residents during extreme weather events.

Lucas County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Abby Buchhop emphasized the importance of this test, noting that outdoor warning sirens are a primary tool for notifying residents of a tornado when they are outside or within proximity to a siren. However, she acknowledged that not all residents will be able to hear the sirens.

“Outdoor warning sirens notify you when there is a tornado,” Buchhop said. “If you’re outdoors, you can hear the siren and if you’re within proximity of a siren.”

To complement the siren system, the county is rolling out a new mass notification system powered by EverBridge. This new system is designed to alert as many residents as possible, including those who might not hear the sirens.

“We’re implementing this notification system to improve the mass notification capabilities in Lucas County,” Buchhop stated. “It’s a step in the right direction for ensuring timely alerts are sent out to all residents.”

Currently, only about 15% of the county’s population is registered to receive emergency alerts through the system. With severe weather season on the horizon, Buchhop stressed the need for this number to grow significantly.

“Especially with us on the cusp of severe weather season, we need to make sure that we have the ability to test these systems and maintain them,” she said. “We need to be ready to communicate with the public when we need to most.”

Residents who are not yet registered for alerts are encouraged to sign up through the Lucas County EMA website. Those who are registered can expect to receive either a text message or an email alert Wednesday morning. However, the new system means that the contact number and email address sending these alerts will differ from previous years. To avoid confusion, alerts will come from either 89361 or 89362 and the email address no-reply@EverBridge.net.

Buchhop also addressed concerns over the increasing number of alerts that residents may receive. While it can seem like there are more notifications than ever before, she stressed that test runs, like the one scheduled for Wednesday, are essential to ensuring that the systems are functioning properly.

“These tests are necessary to maintain an operational status and to ensure that we have reliable methods to communicate with the public,” Buchhop explained. “The last thing we want is to discover that these systems aren’t working when we need them most.”

With the new alert system in place, Lucas County officials are hoping to expand their reach and better safeguard residents as the region enters a potentially dangerous weather season.