JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Mississippi communities are preparing for severe weather this weekend that could cause damage. Some areas in the state have already had more than their fair share of severe weather this year.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has a team preparing to keep Mississippians informed about the forecast.

Brain Grantham, the Rankin County EOC director, said neighbors should not rely solely on outdoor weather sirens. He suggested monitoring more than one source for weather notifications.

“The technology is very old inside the sirens. It’s not reliable. Just because it worked last weekend, may not mean it’ll work this weekend. Trying to find somebody to work on those are extremely difficult. So, that’s when we started looking at hey, most people carry cell phones. If not, we can also call their landline inside their home if they don’t have a cell phone,” Grantham said.

Weather notifications have been crucial for neighbors in Wayne County. Three tornadoes have caused damage in the area recently.

“That’s really rare to kind of see that and just really unfortunate that on three different occasions you had storms that just went right through, you know, a portion of a county and caused, you know, kind of devastation,” said Chad Entremont, a meteorologist with the NWS.

Storm Team 12 is also tracking the forecast. Click here to keep up to date.