NATCHEZ — With two of 18 early warning sirens broken, Adams County Emergency Management leaders said they would urge residents to sign up for Code Red alerts.

Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said the sirens on Cloverdale Road and near the Liberty Road National Guard Armory are not operational.

Further, even for the sirens that were operational, Bradford said many residents complained they could not hear the alert during the tornado warning earlier this month.

“Do not rely solely on the sirens,” Bradford said. “We have Code Red. If you are inside and have the TV on during a thunderstorm, you may not hear the siren.

“Most people always have their cell phone right beside them. We want people to take advantage of Code Red, which is another way of being alerted.”

Code Red can come as a call, an email and a text message, Bradford said, and is free to sign up.

To sign up, visit www.adamscountyms.net and click on the emergency management page within the county departments tab. A link to the Code Red system is on that page.

Bradford said Blue Valley Public Safety Inc. is expected to make a trip to Natchez to repair the two sirens in the next week or two.

The siren on Cloverdale Road is rotating but not sounding, and Bradford said he was not sure what was wrong with it.

Bradford said the National Guard siren is getting power but still not operating. He said he believes the problem is within the control board.

Storms and rain moved through the area on Jan. 2 causing power outages, but no major damage. A possible rotation in the clouds was reported in the Stanton area, but nothing reportedly touched ground.

Bradford said the National Weather Service Jackson office issues tornado warnings when a rotation is reported in the clouds. When the warning is issued, Bradford said emergency management sounds the sirens, so the alert does not necessarily mean a tornado is on the ground.

“A lot of times it will go off and there might not be a tornado on the ground, but there will be a strong possibility of one in the making,” Bradford said.

Bradford said he encouraged people to listen for nearby sirens during normal monthly testing, at 11 a.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, when the weather is clear.