It’s Monday afternoon, and staff at the Hennepin County Emergency Operations Center are preparing for a long night.

“It’s going to be very busy in the next few hours,” said Hennepin County meteorologist Emily Jackson.

“We’ve been watching this since Tuesday of last week, knowing we need to bring staff in for this,” she said.

They are communicating with the National Weather Service and city departments across the metro. The operations center is where they will issue any warnings and activate the sirens.

“Any time you are going to warn 1.3 million people, it can be spotty. We want to make sure you get it right,” said Eric Waage, the Director of Emergency Management for Hennepin County.

Waage says every storm season brings new technology and new ways to communicate with residents.

“Social media is one way, phone alerts are another… But sirens and broadcast are still exceptionally reliable. They never fail,” he said.

Stay up-to-date with the latest weather conditions HERE.