Outdoor Sirens to Continue at Least Through Friday (Updated)
Campus, community members will hear sirens
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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Durham, NC -- Duke University will continue to test its new outdoor warning system through Friday and possibly into Monday, university officials said.
Testing began Wednesday and continued Thursday. People outdoors on campus, and in nearby neighborhoods, will hear loud tones and live and recorded messages.
“This is not a drill or a real emergency,” said Aaron Graves, associate vice president for campus safety and security. “We’re bringing the outdoor warning system online this week for the first time, and as part of that, we’re testing the sirens to ensure they function properly.”
The outdoor warning system, part of the DukeALERT mass notification protocol, will warn people outdoors in imminent life-threatening emergencies such as a tornado sighting or an armed person on campus. The sirens are designed to address one audience: people outdoors – so they can take immediate action.
“People in most buildings will not hear the outdoor sirens, but we can reach them in other ways,” Graves said. “Duke’s approach is to build redundancy into rapid notification and offer a multi-pronged approach using a combination of voice, web, e-mail and text messaging to reach as many people as possible.”
The sirens meet Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines. The system was designed by Federal Signal Corp. in Illinois, which has provided systems for more than 25 colleges and universities, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Duke’s siren poles are located in these areas:
* EAST CAMPUS: off West Markham Avenue in an area near the tennis courts and Pegram-Carr parking lot.
* CENTRAL CAMPUS: off Pace Street and Oregon.
* DUKE GARDENS: off Anderson Street, across from the gardens.
* WEST CAMPUS: off Frank Bassett Drive, near the grounds office and Duke Sports Medicine.
* WEST CAMPUS: off Science Drive, near Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
* MEDICAL SOUTH: near the intersection of LaSalle and Circuit, behind the North Building parking area.
* MEDICAL NORTH: near the hospital and VA, at the corner of Fulton and Elder Streets.
