VIDEO: Providenceโs rarely used siren systems to warn residents of an emergency are being phased out in favor of digital-only alerts in the coming weeks. On Thursday, Mayor Brett Smiley and Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Clara Decerbo announced updates to the cityโs Public Alert and Warning System, which are set to take effect Sept. 1.
The cityโs current Port Siren System is difficult to hear during test activations and warnings, according to Decerbo. When every second counts, Decerbo said city officials determined it was time to retire the system. โItโs not enough time to give us to tell people to close your window, turn off your AC, bring your pets inside, for a shelter-in-place order,โ Decerbo said during an interview on Thursday. The system is also being phased out for financial reasons. Decerbo said the sirens would require a major upgrade in order to maintain any functionality. โIt would be about $250,000 to do the immediately needed updates, and then $20,000 to $30,000 a year for maintenance,โ Decerbo explained.
Now, the city will rely only on its CodeRED system, along with the state of Rhode Islandโs Wireless Emergency Alert System (WEAS), which already sends out notifications like AMBER Alerts and National Weather Service warnings. Decerbo said the digital systems also allow residents to be able to get detailed instructions during emergencies in both English and Spanish. WEAS notifications automatically go to every cell phone in the designated emergency alert area without the public needing to sign up. โSo if we have visitors or tourists or people who are here for business who wouldnโt know necessarily to sign up for CodeRED, they will be alerted by that wireless emergency alert as well,โ Decerbo said.
Separately, members of the public can opt in to the cityโs CodeRED system, which sends alerts
by phone, email and text about severe weather, utility outages, fires, floods and other
emergencies. โI recommend that people put their home address, their work address, the address of their childrenโs school, any other really important locations,โ Decerbo added. โBecause CodeRED is geographically based, youโre going to get those alerts based on the address that you input.โ There is no charge to register for or use CodeRED, and Decerbo said your personal information will be kept confidential.
