Cape ponders storm sirens for city safety

Thick, black storm clouds roll in, spawning a tornado that bears down on Shawnee Park and hundreds of children and parents involved in soccer games. For them, there would be no warning of the impending disaster.

While such an event hasn't happened, it's that type of scenario that worries Cape Girardeau city officials and has them exploring the possibility of buying and erecting several tornado sirens to warn people in city parks of dangerous storms.

One option might be to connect the sirens to Southeast Missouri State University's outdoor warning system, eliminating the need for the city to buy its own "command center" equipment to run the system, Mayor Jay Knudtson said.

Doug Richards, director of the university's public safety department, suggested such an arrangement could provide "significant cost savings" to the city.

Just how much the city might save hasn't been determined. At this point, city officials stress it's only an option.

Knudtson said the city can't afford to blanket the community with warning sirens, but possibly could install sirens at Capaha and Shawnee parks and maybe Arena Park if the city can secure grant money to fund it.

Weather radios and televised weather warnings work well inside homes. But they don't reach people outdoors, he said.

"That really eliminates people who are out in the parks from having any kind of warning," the mayor said.

While sirens would provide warning for people using the parks, they also could be heard by people in surrounding neighborhoods, Knudtson said.

Fire chief Richard Ennis said outdoor warning sirens should be coupled with radio and television warnings.

"The whole idea is to have a multiple alert system" to warn the greatest number of people possible, he said.

Ennis said the city staff is looking at possible locations for warning sirens and how much it would cost. The fire chief said he hopes city staff can wrap up the study within a few months.

The issue of tornado sirens has been raised before in Cape Girardeau. A tornado ripped through Jackson on May 6, 2003, damaging buildings and prompting city officials in neighboring Cape Girardeau to once again look at the issue of warning sirens.

The issue resurfaced April 24 when funnel clouds were sighted in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties. The emergency sirens were sounded at Southeast, prompting a spring football game at Houck Stadium to be called off with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. At Rose Theatre on the university campus, the audience was moved to the basement of the building after the sirens sounded.

Knudtson said this "weekend scare" sparked city officials to once again take a hard look at the feasibility of an outdoor warning system.

Up until now, it has been an all-or-nothing approach by city hall.

The city installed a dozen warning sirens in 1980 at a cost of $110,000. But the city council soon voted to remove them after tests showed the sirens couldn't be heard throughout the city.

But Southeast Missouri State University installed warning sirens in the spring of 2001 to serve the campus. The university spent $140,000 on the outdoor warning system. Since then, the seven sirens have alerted the campus and residents in surrounding neighborhoods of the possible approach of tornados.

The warning system is tested monthly.

"We have probably used it seven to 10 times for actual bad weather," Richards said.

The university sounds the sirens only if a tornado has been spotted in the region, he said.

Southeast's warning system also allows for messages to be broadcast.

Richards said the university is looking at the possibility of expanding the system to allow the warning sirens or emergency messages to be heard inside campus buildings.

Knudtson said the university is looking to add an outdoor warning siren at the River Campus arts school that is being developed overlooking the Mississippi River just south of the city's downtown.

Residents in the neighborhoods around the River Campus also should be able to hear the sirens, the mayor said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123