People in San Marcos likely heard sirens go off at 11 a.m. this morning. The sound is courtesy of the alert towers part of the city’s Outdoor Warning System.
Thursday’s alarms are only a test of the system and the city advised residents not to panic. However, once the testing period is over, the alarms will sound when there is an emergency starting in September.
“Flash flooding; that’s a big one, storms; anything like the hurricane that came through, wildfire during wildfire season if we’re being threatened from that. So there’s all sorts of little things we can use it for,” Rob Fitch, emergency management coordinator of the city said.
The system will test on the first Saturday of every month beginning Aug. 3, when residents can expect to hear a low sound output on those days.
This is the first time all 14 alert towers are operational since 2013.
