The weather in Northeast Texas is unpredictable at best. The general feeling is: If you don't like the weather, just wait 15 minutes and it'll change.

It's that constant possibility of change that concerns Randy Pritchard, emergency management coordinator for the city of Marshall.

(ENLARGE)

"A warning could pop up like that," Pritchard says with a snap of his fingers. "I work very closely with the National Weather Service regional office in Shreveport. I probably get a ton of e-mails a day from them."

The city of Marshall operates at a "sustained level of preparedness," according to Pritchard. "We try to always have equipment ready. I work very closely with Public Works Director Brian Breeding because it's his people we have to pull out and do stuff if a major storm hits. Of course, firemen and police are always ready."

The first line of defense in Marshall is the system of early warning sirens.

"If I get a warning from the Weather Service that the city is in danger of a severe thunderstorm or a tornado, I activate the sirens," Pritchard said.

Sometimes, he admits, the storm bypasses Marshall, either to the north or south. "I don't want to be accused of crying wolf, but if the National Weather Service says we're in a dangerous situation, I'm going to set them off," he said. "I'd rather err on the side of safety."

Pritchard said, ideally, the sirens will sound if a dangerous storm situation is about 15 minutes away. "And all that's based on Weather Service advice," he added. "I'm not a meteorologist. All I know is that if I stick my arm outside and it gets wet, it's probably raining. I depend on the professionals to give that advice."

'Early Warning'

In years past, Pritchard recalls, the sirens were sounded only if winds reached a predetermined speed or if hail was falling. "I think that's too late. The purpose is 'early warning.'

"To me, personally, the best time to set them off is beforehand, to give a warning," he said. "Hopefully it's not a 'duck and cover' situation. If you hear the sirens you should tune in to a local radio station, TV station or get on the Internet, whatever source you choose, and find out why they're sounding. Then you make your own determination from there."

Pritchard said that, in conjunction with the siren system, his office offers a free mass text message service that will call subscribers and let them know why the siren has sounded. There's also a mass e-mail service, he added.

"The only catch with the text message service is, when there's an alarm at 3 o'clock in the morning, you're phone's going to ring," he said.

To sign up for the text message or e-mail service, contact Pritchard at weather

info@marshalltexas.net.

The early warning siren system is comprised of three sirens. One is behind Washington Early Childhood, near East Texas Baptist University, one near Travis Elementary and one at Oak Lawn golf course.

Though the early warning siren system is operated primarily by Pritchard's office, he said the police and fire departments also have the authority to activate the sirens.

"That way there's always someone at the switch," he said.

The sirens are activated from the police and fire dispatch office.

Outside Marshall

But the sirens are of little help in the unincorporated areas of Harrison County.

"The Marshall sirens can only be heard for a limited distance outside the city, depending on the wind," said Dennis Engdahl, Harrison County Fire Marshall and Emergency Management coordinator.

Engdahl, who operates out of the Harrison County Airport, said most people residing "in the country" rely heavily on TV and radio to provide warnings of approaching storms.

"We do have an alerting system, though," Engdahl said.

He said the First Call telephone warning system, the same system used to warn residents of a potentially dangerous man attempting to elude police recently along the eastern area of the county, can be used for weather-related warnings.

First Call uses computers and a recorded human voice message to quickly contact people by phone and provide emergency information.

"We have a number of 'canned' messages and we can record on the fly," Engdahl said, adding that the system is capable of dialing more than 200 phones per minute.

The service is free, he said, paid for by donations from local government and industries, and serves all of Harrison and Gregg counties.

"You don't have to sign up for it. We're using the 911 database so we should have everyone's number, even unlisted numbers" he said. "But anyone that wants to check to make sure, they can go to firstcall.net."

The system is good, but it has its limitations, Engdahl admitted.

"In the event of a tornado, for example, by the time the system calls you on the phone, you answer it and listen to the message, that tornado's come and gone," he said. "It's a good warning devise for flooding because that's something we have time to deal with."

During storms Engdahl said the Harrison County Road and Bridge personnel are on constant stand-by.

"All the volunteer fire departments also have men and women that go out with chainsaws and clear roadways for emergency vehicles," he added. "The sheriff's office works in that capacity also."

Engdahl said that, while he and Pritchard typically do their own separate monitoring of weather conditions, "when we see there's potential for a problem, we coordinate our efforts. We work very closely together."

Cooperation

A program that could benefit both the city and the county is "Sky Warn."

This is a network of HAM radio operators who double as trained weather spotters, Pritchard explained.

"They are trained to recognize certain weather patterns and signs and call it in," he said. "We don't have it in place yet, but we're working with some local radio operators to make it happen."

Marshall is far enough north that hurricanes have little impact here. "We got a little wind and a lot of rain from (Hurricane) Rita," Pritchard said.

However, after hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast, the state of Texas developed an evacuation plan for its coastal cities that includes Marshall and other out-of-range, inland cities. "It's a 'Sister City' program," Pritchard said.

He explained that the evacuation of southern Texas in the days leading up to Hurricane Rita's landfall spotlighted holes in the previous evacuation plan.

"It basically was directions out of the area," Pritchard said. "It didn't take into account the 'special needs' people — those without transportation or without driver's licenses or those that couldn't simply leave because of medical reasons."

The new plan pairs coastal area with "designated destinations" considered out of range of the giant storms.

"The coastal city provides buses or some kind of transportation to get those citizens out and to a designated destination," Pritchard said. "It's a whole shelter plan for the state. We've been paired with Orange County."