CITY COULD JOIN UNIVERSITY'S STORM-ALERT EFFORT

Southeast Missouri State University is studying the possibility of installing tornado warning sirens on campus.

The need for warning systems has long been debated in Cape Girardeau, and the university's decision will be closely watched.

The university has hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study. It is estimated three to six sirens would be needed because of the hilly campus terrain. The cost is estimated at $120,000, which is much lower than the cost the city was looking at to install 20 sirens in 1980.

The sirens would be activated by Southeast's Department of Public Safety dispatchers. They would be activated based on information from the National Weather Service and the Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness office. The university is also looking at sirens that could double as loudspeakers to alert students, staff and faculty in case of other emergencies.

It's not as if the university would be breaking new ground. Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield has had sirens for years. The city of Springfield has 51 sirens and is planning to install 28 more.

This newspaper has long pushed for some kind of weather-warning system. Although the last deadly tornado to strike Cape Girardeau was in 1949, this community is situated in a tornado-prone area. Warnings and watches are fairly common in the spring.

Marion, Ill., was the site of a deadly twister in May 1982, and other tornadoes have touched down in Southeast Missouri with deadly results over the years.

The university has also studied the city of Chaffee, which has two tornado sirens.

Granted, tornado sirens for the city is not an open-and-shut case. The price would have to be weighed against the benefits. The fact that Cape Girardeau is such a hilly town would also increase the number of sirens needed.

The city has already had one bad experience with sirens. Cape Girardeau installed a warning system in 1980 at a cost of $110,000. But the sirens were removed just months later after tests showed the warning blasts couldn't be heard in some areas of town because of the hilly terrain.

Warning sirens need to be part of an overall emergency preparedness plan. Cape Girardeau has been honored for its preparedness efforts with its Project Impact.

With the university taking a closer look at sirens, this might be the time to reconsider sirens for the entire community.