The other day, I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating lunch. At an odd time—let’s say 17 minutes past the hour—I heard a municipal siren being sounded.
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The other day, I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating lunch. At an odd time—let’s say 17 minutes past the hour—I heard a municipal siren being sounded.
As always, my first thought is concern, hoping that whoever is in need will be fine. My second thought is always curiosity. Could the siren be weather-related?
This time, I decided to get to the bottom of it. Help was a text away. After a brief exchange with town government, I learned a great deal.
Sirens within the town of Tusten are used to summon volunteer emergency service members for fires or health crises. However, before the alarms are sounded, they have likely already received a text alert and are on their way. This is the system followed by many communities that rely on volunteers.
It’s another compelling reason to demand better cell coverage in Narrowsburg.
It was made very clear: the sirens we hear in town are never related to weather.
So how are citizens alerted that dangerous weather is on the way? Those who want to stay in the know only need to visit www.townoftusten.org and sign up for CodeRed, our municipal emergency alert notification system.
Note that people should sign up as individuals, and not rely on one member of the household for notifications.
After a very easy account set-up, you will get geospecific texts—or emails if that’s your preference.
In the years since I first joined, I’ve been alerted about snow and rainstorms, tornadoes and other emergency situations. Always timely and thorough, CodeRed is a wonderful program that we are fortunate to have. Sign up today.
It’s also worth noting that we are blessed to have community-minded volunteer firefighters, EMS and support staff. They are largely self-funded and rely on donations. Consider being generous the next time they reach out. These services and the people that provide them are at the foundation of what makes us a strong, vital and safe community.
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