Severe weather safety awareness

LINGLE – The Town of Lingle is taking a proactive approach to severe weather safety. Our town experienced a minor storm on June 10, and we want to bring awareness to some of the resources available to residents. We want to provide some helpful tips for severe weather awareness and resources available to citizens. According to the National Weather Service, Wyoming’s severe weather season runs from mid-April through September, with the majority of the severe weather occurring between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. However, severe weather can occur any day and at any time.

Lingle is equipped with an outdoor warning siren strategically located on the east side of Main Street. This siren is designed to alert both our local guests and residents who may be outside their homes or businesses during severe weather, chemical emergencies, terrorism, flash flooding, and other general warnings. For more information, visit goshencounty.org/outdoor-warning-sirens, which provides links to soundbites of the different warning signals and an explanation of each warning signal.

For those indoors, there are several reliable options for receiving emergency alerts. A highly recommended choice is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio. These radios are an excellent investment as they broadcast weather information from local weather offices across the nation. These broadcasts offer a wealth of information, including past, current, and forecasted weather, as well as emergency weather event watches and warnings. 

Goshen County Emergency Management offers the Code Red program, which is a great option. The easiest and most convenient way to sign up is by visiting goshencounty.org. The Code Red icon is at the bottom of the webpage. One can sign up for an account and then choose the alerts they want to receive via telephone call, text message, and email.

An AM/FM radio, local news media websites, and social media pages are great resources for staying up-to-date with all regional events, including severe weather. In the event of severe weather and other emergencies, local authorities and the National Weather Service will work with local media to continually broadcast updated information about these events through their various radio frequencies, websites, or other means of communication.

Another excellent option for all types of emergency alerts is the American Red Cross Emergency app for cellular phones. This app uses cellular phone location information to provide up-to-the-minute alerts for earthquakes, extreme cold/winter weather, extreme heat, floods, hazardous material releases, shelter-in-place, high winds, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and wildfires. In addition to monitoring events in one’s locale, it will also alert users of emergencies in other locations, should the user choose to sign up to receive those alerts.

If one needs help signing up for alerts or to learn more about these options, call Logan Dailey at (308) 530-8604 or Goshen County Emergency Manager Thomas Bozeman at (307) 532-7039.