Emergency Management

In times of disaster and emergency, the City's emergency management plan will guide the response. The plan ensures that the Fire Department, Sheriff's Department, City leaders and staff, and other disaster response organizations have a coordinated effort. The City Emergency Management Plan is included in Ramsey County's plan (PDF).

Additional homeland security and emergency management issues can be found at Ramsey County's website, or the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's website. The City suggests that every household visits ready.gov, a government website for individual and family planning guides.

Sirens


Sirens are designed for outdoor notification. Do not rely on them to provide notification inside a structure. Use a weather alert radio or other options i.e. cell phone alerts for notifications.

When outside warning sirens sound, the best advice is to seek shelter and turn on your radio to get the latest information. For severe weather seek shelter in your basement or an area with interior walls and no windows.

The sirens signal some type of emergency. Not limited to signaling a tornado, the sirens may be alerting the community to the possibility of a chemical spill, gas leak, or other natural or man-made disaster.

Sirens are situated at the North Fire Station; and near the intersections of Snail Lake Road and Rice Street; International Drive and County Road E; Edgerton and I-694; and Owasso Boulevard and Rice Street.

Sirens are tested the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m.

Severe Weather Shelter


The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's website offers general information on severe weather. Guidelines for personal safety during severe weather include:
  • Head to your basement or an area with interior walls and no windows.
  • Secure shelter is located in the Five Star Home Park for residents living in that neighborhood.
  • Vadnais Elementary School is no longer available for shelter when the sirens sound.