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Ten 30 foot towers located throughout the Sault Tribe’s service area will provide emergency alert notifications to local residents in the form of a siren and emergency lights for the hearing impaired starting in July 2012. The new communication tool is being installed and coordinated by The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Emergency Management.

“The objective of these systems is to provide for outdoor alerting in our remote communities for the purpose of enabling residents of those communities to receive emergency messages regarding hazardous weather including thunderstorms, winter storms, tornados,” said Matt Carpentier

Sault Tribe Emergency Manager.

The towers will be strategically located to allow for power and effective warning siren distribution / light visualization throughout the sevencountyU.P.areas which includes Chippewa, Mackinac, Alger, Schoolcraft, Delta, Marquette and Luce counties. They will also provide emergency alert notifications to outside communities creating a benefit that extends to every county, township and city within the radius of the emergency alert system.

“These towers will project sound for one mile in 360 degrees providing over all coverage. The lights will also provide 360 degrees of coverage,” said Carpentier.

Complete installation of these systems is projected to be completed throughout the summer and finalized by the end of July 2012.

“In the end, we hope this project will ensure the safety, and wellbeing of our community including Sault Tribe Members and their families,” said Carpentier. “This can only be accomplished if the systems are utilized by residents and additional preparedness actions are taken.” Carpentier encouraged every resident to a basic emergency kit for their home and develop a family emergency care plan that will provide some basic structure in the event of a disaster, major incident or hazardous weather.

Sault Tribe Emergency Management will be coordinating additional trainings to ensure the preparedness, safety and self-sufficiency of the community. For more information, contact the office at 906‑635‑6065 or visit www.stemergencymanagement.blogspot.com or Sault Tribe Emergency Management on Facebook.

Installation of the Outdoor Emergency Alert Systems is part of the Sault Tribe Remote Community Alert Systems Program 2010 (Grant Number NA10NWS4680018), funded through the U. S. Department of Commerce, National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).