If you hear emergency sirens sounding off on July 20 and 21, that’s a good thing.

This is because, on that Monday and Tuesday, the City plans to test the 11 “Outdoor Warning Sirens” that are strategically placed all around Milton. (If the schedule changes, we’ll let you know.) Working with our partners at Meer Electric, the City makes sure that each siren works as it should. And if one doesn’t, we’ll fix it; better to know that now than during a true crisis.

Each of the 11 sirens should sound for about 15 seconds, then turn off. So if you hear such a siren for that amount of time, there’s no cause for alarm. (Pun intended!)

Of course, it would work differently in a weather-related emergencies when people should take cover. These sirens are in place to warn people nearby about approaching or perhaps imminent severe weather such as a tornado in their area. In an actual emergency, they'll be activated for 3 minutes, followed by a 3-minutes, then reactivated for another 3 minutes -- a pattern that continues until the weather threat has passed.

While some alerts may come through on cell phones, these Outdoor Warning Sirens are an old-school and extremely valuable tool to reach anyone – regardless of what technology they have with them – within earshot.