During a scary outbreak of stormy weather in the early morning hours May 19, City of Houston emergency management director Jeremy St. John opened the Houston storm shelter for local residents to take refuge.
St. John said the storm shelter is opened whenever a severe, threatening storm is approaching the city.
During the same weather event, the eight warning sirens in Houston sounded twice. That’s because there was a real threat of the storm spawning a tornado.
“The storm sirens sound off in Houston whenever we’re under a direct threat of a tornado,” St. John said. “What determines this is information from the National Weather Service as well as eyes on the ground in the area evaluating current weather conditions.”
St. John said when the NWS issues a tornado warning aimed at central Texas County and the Bucyrus, Huggins and Houston area, he contacts the sheriff’s department to activate the sirens in a cycle of approximately three minutes on with a three-minute pause in between. He said the sirens are not used for an “all clear” signal.
“This equipment is used only to notify you of harm –– or potential of harm –– and destruction within the city of Houston,” St. John said.
Houston’s storm sirens are located at Oak Hill Drive and U.S. 63, Oak Hill Drive and Reed Street, First Street and Mill Street, Hamrick Street and Waverly Street, between the two Durham Co. buildings in the Houston Industrial Park, the north side of the parking lot at Texas County Memorial Hospital, on U.S. 63 at Pizza Hut and on Indian Creek Trail between U.S. 63 and Cleveland Road. They are tested at 9:30 a.m. the third Thursday of each month, weather permitting, to make sure they’ll be ready if needed.
The City of Houston has eight storm sirens, including this one on First Street at Mill Street.
Other than that, St. John said, hearing the sirens means there’s a tornado threat.
“I take these situations very seriously,” he said. “I don’t want to have a department that activates sirens all the time when not needed like crying wolf. So I want the citizens to take the siren warning very seriously.”
St. John said either he or an on-duty Houston police officer opens the shelter during threatening weather episodes. When it has been opened, the Texas County 911 office is contacted which then notifies Texas County Memorial Hospital to open its safe room.
Staffing for the city shelter includes St. John and volunteers from the City of Houston Fire Department. St. John said that when people arrive at the shelter, they should stay inside until authorities provide a verbal all-clear signal.
One of the City of Houston’s eight storm sirens located Oak Hill Drive.
The shelter remains open until potentially threatening weather has passed.
St. John said local citizens can find out when the storm shelter is open by consulting weather alert radios, social media or monitoring TV and radio reports to learn when a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning has been posted for central Texas County. Storm notification is given as much in advance as possible, St. John said, but there’s no perfect solution.
“During bad weather, we’re a little ways from the NWS radar site and they don’t always see what’s coming our way,” he said.
St. John urges local citizens to use common sense, wisdom and restraint when dealing with potentially dangerous weather.
“We just ask for everyone to be calm and patient,” he said. “Usually during these times a lot of information is coming in on storm damage and other operations that may have stemmed from a storm. The emergency teams made up of our dispatchers, law enforcement, firefighters and medical staff are trying to help everyone out.
“If you should have a true emergency during or after a storm, please dial 911 for help. But if you have damage to report that is not threatening life or property, please hold off for a little while before contacting the proper authorities. This will give emergency crews time to take care of calls that need to be immediately tended to.”
The Houston storm shelter opened in 2007 and was constructed using $1.2 million in grant funding from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). It measures 7,200 square feet and is designed to hold as many as 1,200 people and withstand an EF4 tornado. It is equipped with a small kitchen area, men’s and women’s restrooms, tables and chairs, and an emergency back-up generator that automatically turns on if external power is interrupted.
For more information, call City of Houston emergency management director Jeremy St. John at 417-217-2161 or email him at st.johnjeremy@yahoo.com.