Newcastle Says High Tech Warning System Better Than Sirens

Jon Jordan, News9

NEWCASTLE, Oklahoma -- After a recent tornado barrels through the town of Newcastle, some residents are frustrated the city doesn't have tornado sirens. But the city says it doesn't need sirens.

That's because the city says it's using a state-of-the-art warning system called CTY Connect, which basically notifies residents through email and phones when bad weather is approaching. Despite only reaching about quarter of the residents in Newcastle to alert them, city officials say the fact nobody lost their lives in their town is proof the system works.

"We ended up having somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 people go in our storm shelter during that tornado because people were notified," says Newcastle City Manager Nick Nazar.

Even though the city feels it's alert system is adequate, one city employee says the system isn't as good as the city says and believes the city should have sirens.

While the city feels tornado sirens only help serve a small portion of the public, officials say they have plans to have three sirens built within the next 4 months.

See full coverage of Oklahoma Tornado Coverage