New outdoor mass notification systems, manufactured by Whelen Engineering Company and made here in the USA, were recently installed In the City of Gordonsville, the City of South Carthage & the City of Carthage. The new system has the capability of alerting citizens to various potential hazards including, Tornado warnings, Flash flooding, Severe weather warnings and winter weather advisories.
The systems will produce prerecorded voice messages in conjunction with various tones to alert for particular situations. The outdoor sirens are controlled by 3 separate computer based activation controller that is connected directly to the (NWS) National Weather Service. This enables the systems to be activated for tornado warnings automatically by the NWS. This is done based on a polygon that the NWS issues. If the sirens fall within the polygon issued by the NWS, it will automatically activate the appropriate sirens for tornado warning. Additionally, each city has an activation controller and could act as a backup for each other should the need arise.
The outdoor sirens are located behind the Gordonsville City Hall, at the City of South Carthage Fire Hall and at the 911 Call Center in Carthage. The funding for the sirens came from the federal government (ARPA money) which was received by the county during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The sirens will be tested periodically. The next scheduled testing is Friday, December 11th at noon for South Carthage and Gordonsville. Carthage will announce testing dates at a later time. 
