Cape wants to add tornado sirens

On any given day, tornado sirens are not likely in an average person's thoughts.

They may warrant a passing thought on testing days, but especially during sunny summer, the noisemakers can fall in the "out of sight, out of mind" category.

That hasn't turned out to be the case for area residents this summer, as a spate of severe storms hit earlier this month, bringing with them a chance of tornadoes.

Cape Girardeau operates nine tornado sirens. Southeast Missouri State University operates its own campus siren system, though it coordinates with the city to set off its sirens simultaneously, said assistant fire chief and emergency management coordinator Mark Hasheider.

The city needs more sirens to reach adequate coverage, he said. Each siren has a radius of approximately 1 mile.

"We know there are pockets where people do not hear them," Hasheider said.

Five sirens went up around the city in 2013, covering areas near parks, schools and some of the city's most densely populated areas.

"Our No. 1 goal in the beginning is to cover the people who would be outside," said Hasheider. "[A siren's] purpose is to alert those outside, not to penetrate indoors. If it does penetrate a home or building, that's just a bonus."

The idea is to give a heads-up to those who are outdoors or in an area where they may not be able to access media to keep up with weather alerts, he explained.

Sirens are activated when the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the city or county, or if a tornado is witnessed by a trained weather spotter.

The sirens are activated by 911 communicators in Cape Girardeau, Hasheider said, with a manual override option available as a backup.

They are activated only for a tornado warning. There are no "all clear" sirens, so people should rely on weather radios or other media for such information, he said.

Whether it's television or radio, Hasheider said people should rely on them for weather information rather than wait for a tornado siren.

"[Sirens] should not be someone's primary method of notification," he said. "We encourage all homes as well as businesses to have a weather radio."

Plans are to bring more sirens to Cape Girardeau as funding becomes available. The next siren could be up within the next year, Hasheider said.

The area most likely to receive a siren first is Hopper Road and Interstate 55.

The area near Route W and the Jaycee Municipal Golf Course also is high on the list, along with northern areas of the city.

The sirens cost about $21,000 each, Hasheider said.

An "Adopt A Siren" program is available on the city's website if local clubs or organizations are interested in making a donation.

Hasheider keeps a map of the city in his office, covered in pale green and tan circles indicating areas covered by sirens or those in need.

The green circles of coverage don't have quite as much overlap as he would like.

"We want to eliminate areas without adequate coverage," he said, looking at the map. "The goal is to have areas overlapped by multiple sirens."

Last week, the city of Jackson saw a reduction to eight sirens, though fire chief Jason Mouser said that is no longer the case.

The South High Street siren was repaired Thursday and tested Friday, bringing the city back up to a full nine sirens.

Nine seems to be the magic number in Jackson, providing the city with adequate coverage.

Mouser said the city and emergency officials keep an eye on city growth in case an additional siren seems necessary in the future.

"Right now, the coverage is pretty good," he said. "As funds become available and the city grows, we would look at where we might need to expand the system. But right now everything is covered, and we've even got some overlap in some areas."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Jackson, Mo.

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Cape Girardeau siren locations

Cape Girardeau siren locations

• Arena Park
• Kiwanis Park
• Shawnee Park
• North County Park
• William Street and Mount Auburn Road
• Central High School, 1000 S. Silver Springs Road
• Fire Station 4, 1459 Kurre Lane
• Fire Station 1, 1 S. Sprigg St.
• Vincent Avenue

Source: Cape Girardeau Fire Department