Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
The Touchet River overran its banks in the very early hours of Feb. 7, 2020, sending river water rushing down Lower Hogeye Road, across Highway 12, and, eventually, onto Preston Avenue.
WAITSURG - The Waitsburg Community Health and Protection Committee will test the city's flood siren at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 19.
The siren, routinely heard on weekdays at noon, will be set off in a wavering sound pattern at 10 a.m. for approximately a minute, simulating a flooding event.
During the test on Tuesday, the Walla Walla County Emergency Management Alert system will send test messages via text, email, messaging, and on cell and landlines to Waitsburg residents while the siren is sounded.
Walla Walla County Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Purcell asks residents who receive an emergency alert message during the test to reply. This will help the county track the effectiveness of the alert system and its range of coverage.
The emergency messaging is done through a subscription Walla Walla County has with Everbridge, a critical event management platform. Everbridge provides the county with contacts for residents who opt-in or contacts gathered by other means through the subscription service. To ensure you receive emergency alerts from the county, go to https://tinyurl.com/u26nzbhp to sign up for the service.
Purcell said more information about the alert system can be found on the official county website at wwemd.info and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WallaWallaEM.
"During emergencies, this will be where we push out social media updates to the public," said Purcell.
Should a life-threatening event occur, the county will use the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS.) This system uses cell towers to transmit alerts to all phones, similar to Amber Alerts.
"I hope that by pairing the siren warning with emergency notifications, we can provide useful, actionable information to Waitsburg residents during flooding or other emergencies that impact your residents," said Purcell.
The Waitsburg Community Health and Protection Committee met Tuesday, November 12, a week earlier than normal, to prepare for the test. Members discussed the logistics of the test, coordinating with the county's emergency message system, and how to best provide residents with actionable information.
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