Denver City Wire

DENVER- On May 24, the Denver Office of Emergency Management (Denver OEM) and Denver International Airport tested the emergency sirens across the city and at the Denver International Airport. At 11 a.m., sirens rang out for three minutes.

This live test happens annually in the spring to ensure the sirens are fully functioning should they be needed to warn people of a real, life-threatening emergency. Additionally, Denver OEM does a silent test on the sirens monthly to troubleshoot issues with the sirens. Ultimately, the live tests, like the one on May 24, are most effective in ensuring the devices are fully functioning.

It’s important for residents and visitors of Denver to know what to do when these sirens are utilized in a real emergency.During a real emergency, the sirens will sound for three minutes at a time. Depending on how long the warning period lasts, the sirens may be resounded multiple times.

When you hear an Outdoor Warning Siren system, you should:

• Seek shelter indoors, preferably in a stairwell, basement, or lowest building level possible. If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outdoors. Do not open windows.
• Once you are inside a secured location, tune into local media (TV, radio, mobile device) or NOAA weather alert radio to be informed of the storm location, path, and duration of the warning.
• There is no “All Clear” sounds that the sirens make, nor does the National Weather Service (NWS) issue an all-clear message. Once the warning period has expired or is cancelled, it is safe to leave your shelter location. Be aware, however, that NWS may extend the warning or issue a new warning so be vigilant.
• The NWS is the only official source of severe weather warnings/ watches including tornados. All tornado warnings are initiated by the NWS, however, the City and County of Denver may sound the sirens without a NWS-issued warning if a tornado has been sighted by trained observers. 

Original source can be found here