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Barrington fire chief reviews severe-weather systems, urges residents to sign up for Everbridge
Summary
At the March 10 Barrington Village Board meeting the fire chief reviewed the village's severe-weather preparedness systems — sirens, lightning prediction, Everbridge mass notifications — and urged residents to sign up and follow sheltering guidance for tornadoes, high winds and flash floods.
Fire Chief (Village of Barrington Fire Department) told the Village Board on March 10 that village staff monitor weather daily, described upgrades to the outdoor warning system and urged residents to sign up for the village's Everbridge mass-notification system.
The chief said the village maintains multiple early-warning systems and coordinates messages with the village communications director and the National Weather Service. "We communicate and communicate with our communications director to make sure that we're getting our message out," the chief told trustees during a presentation on severe-weather preparedness.
The presentation described multiple hazards Barrington prepares for: thunderstorms (including lightning and hail), tornadoes, high winds and flash floods. The chief cited nationwide figures to put local risk in context and then described local tools and instructions for residents: the village has 10 lightning prediction systems, seven outdoor warning sirens and a mass-notification system (Everbridge) that residents can sign up for via the village website. "A lot of people will call after the sirens go off and say, I was in my house and I didn't hear them. They're not really designed for that," the chief said, emphasizing that the sirens are intended for people outdoors and that Everbridge and other media are intended to reach those indoors.
The chief explained recent upgrades to the siren network: last year the board approved upgrades to five sirens and replacement of two older units, migrating to a Fulton system tied into a regional activation center so sirens can be targeted to storms affecting Barrington rather than triggering regionwide. Sirens are tested monthly at 10 a.m.; the chief said weekly "growl tests" are also run and test reports are delivered to village staff.
On specific safety steps, the chief repeated guidance the village emphasizes in outreach: if lightning is present avoid open spaces and water; in a tornado take shelter in a basement or an interior room without windows; during high winds shelter in a strong structure; and never attempt to drive through floodwaters ("6 inches of moving water can knock you down, and 2 feet of moving water can carry away most vehicles," the chief said). He also advised residents not to overload 911 after an alert so emergency lines remain available for immediate life-safety calls.
The chief described the village's broader preparedness posture: Barrington was designated a StormReady community in October 2023, has a 24-hour warning point and an emergency operations center that can be activated during major events, and maintains routine coordination with the National Weather Service. He also clarified that Wireless Emergency Alerts (the cell-phone alerts) are issued by cellular providers and federal systems, not directly by the village.
The chief fielded trustee questions about Everbridge and about how cell-phone alerts work; he confirmed Everbridge is used for many types of village notifications beyond weather and that cell-phone WEA messages are managed by cellular carriers and federal alerting authorities. He closed by encouraging residents to sign up for Everbridge and to review family emergency plans.
Residents who want Everbridge alerts were directed to sign up on the Village of Barrington website.
