Nearly 20 towns, villages in Cape Girardeau County receiving tornado sirens

The number of outdoor warning sirens operating in Cape Girardeau County will jump to nearly 40 once an additional 18 sirens go live in October.

In May 2013, Cape Girardeau County commissioners approved accepting a $293,623 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to pay for the new sirens. The grant required a 25 percent match from the county, which asked for assistance from local governments, businesses and utility companies and cooperatives to meet the requirement.

Interest in boosting the number of sirens in the county increased after an EF2 tornado damaged areas in and around Oak Ridge in February 2012. The tornado's 3-mile path stretched from Oak Ridge to southeast Jackson County, Illinois. It left multiple homes and other buildings damaged, along with the Oak Ridge School District campus.

The physical installation of the sirens is complete and once the system is fully operational, 18 towns and villages -- including Delta, Fruitland and Oak Ridge -- will receive warning sirens for the first time.

While some people may question the need for warning sirens when instant weather alerts are available via cellphone, Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management director Dick Knaup said the sirens still provide an important service. The sirens, which will be activated specifically for tornado warnings, are designed to give those who are outdoors and possibly not near their phones an early warning to be prepared.

Storm warning sirens like this one in Kiwanis Park in Cape Girardeau are being installed in 18 towns and villages in Cape Girardeau County. (Southeast Missourian file)

"They are outdoor weather warning sirens. They are not designed to penetrate into your house," Knaup said. "These sirens are dedicated for tornadoes. They won't sound for a severe thunderstorm, flash flood, blizzard or anything like that."

Allenville has one siren, while Cape Girardeau and Jackson operate nine sirens each. Southeast Missouri State University also operates its own campus siren system. Knaup said the county plans to work with each entity, as well as the National Weather Service and state emergency management officials, to help streamline each of the systems. The Allenville siren will be electronically updated to operate with the county's new sirens.

"We are all trying to dance off the same sheet of music," he said.

The county sirens will operate off a redundant system. They can be activated at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office or at the Cape Girardeau County Emergency Operations Center. The county's mobile communication van also will be outfitted to activate the sirens in the event those county offices are unavailable.

Knaup said since the system is similar to those of Jackson, Cape Girardeau and the university, all of the sirens could be activated by the county. In addition to providing an extra location for possible emergency situations, it also could simplify the monthly siren testing process.

The computer screen shows the towns in Cape Girardeau County that have localized outdoor emergency sirens. (Laura Simon)

The control board at the county's emergency operations center also features a computer for siren self-diagnostics, which provide notification of any issues with the sirens.

"These sirens talk back to us and they let us know that they're feeling OK, that they're operating properly [and] that the siren went off properly," Knaup said. "There's an intrusion alarm if somebody opens the panel that isn't supposed to."

The system also issues an update if the sirens lose power. They run on public utilities, but each has a battery backup.

Knaup said the self-diagnostics feature is a more efficient way to keep a check on the sirens, especially compared to the alternative of driving across the county to assess them. He also said the county would still run regular tests to check the sirens, since they are prone to lightening strikes and frequently become homes for bird nests.

Concerns Knaup said he's heard from the public about warning sirens center mainly around reliability. An incoming storm may hit the southern part of the county while skies are clear in the north, but sirens sound off across the whole county, he said.

Now that the National Weather Service issues "polygon warnings," which indicate more specific areas rather than just the counties, Knaup said local siren systems can be more reliable. Under the new system, the county will be divided into the Northern, Central and Southern zones.

"We're going to try our best not to set sirens off in areas where there's no threat, so that we don't cry wolf too often," he said. "We can set off every siren in the county, or we can set just one siren off if we want to."

Charlie Griffith, assistant director of Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management, demonstrates the county’s new outdoor emergency siren system Monday at the County Administrative Building in Jackson. (Laura Simon)

Accuracy will be a primary goal for the county when the new siren system is operational. Knaup said when they are activated, people hearing the sirens should know it means the National Weather Service has "high confidence" a tornado is nearby based on indications from radar or trained spotters.

"[Hearing a siren means] it's in your area and you need to be on full alert and ready to react or already taking action and sought shelter," Knaup said.

The grant the county received to install the sirens requires the system to be in operation by Oct. 22 and Knaup said he's optimistic it could be ready before that date.

"There's not really been any glitches in this so far, but there's some technical issues that we're taking on and trying to overcome -- which we will, I have no doubt about that," he said.

Knaup anticipates testing of the sirens will begin in the near future, but said the public would receive prior notice.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Jackson, MO

Delta, MO

Fruitland, MO

Oak Ridge, MO

Cape Girardeau, MO