Washington County residents are advised that relying on one source of weather information isn’t always assured in the case of severe weather.

Tuesday’s focus of Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa is receiving warning information, and Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen advises having multiple notification systems, as sometimes a cell phone tower or even a National Weather Service tower can go down as has happened during more recent storms. Reisen encourages residents to sign up for the free Alert Iowa notification system, which she reminds has switched providers in the past year, and provides new features that she seeks to greater utilize for those in particular areas of the county, “This is a new system that we transitioned to last year so as we get a bit more comfortable with that system we’re going to have some more options, like Marr Park. If you’re at Marr Park you can sign up for Marr Park-specific notifications and this is especially handy for travelers who have come from other counties, other states that they’ll be able to sign up for those alerts and if there’s a storm headed that way we’ll send the notification to that group.”

Reisen dissuades residents from relying on outdoor warning systems as those simply are to alert those who are outdoors when a tornado warning has been issued for their area or a severe thunderstorm is producing winds of over 70 miles per hour and hail greater than two inches diameter. You can find a link to sign up for Washington County emergency alerts here.