IT'S TIME FOR CAPE ALERT SYSTEM

Cape Girardeau has received considerable notice in recent months for being on the cutting edge of disaster preparedness. In 1997, the city was designated as a Project Impact community, one of the first in the nation.

Project Impact is a program that coordinates planning and preparation to blunt the effects of disasters as well as dealing with disasters when they occur.

For several years before Project Impact came along, the Southeast Missourian and many city residents pushed for some kind of disaster-warning system.

Twenty years ago, the city installed 12 outdoor sirens around the community. There were removed a short time later because, officials said, they weren't effective. The sirens couldn't be heard everywhere, thanks to Cape Girardeau's hilly terrain.

Since then, suggestions for warning systems have been rebuffed, usually with a comment along the lines of "They don't work."

There are plenty of other options. Suggestions over the years have included weather-alert radios, automatic telephone dialing, roving emergency vehicles and cable-TV warnings.

The Project Impact effort has been a good exercise for the city. It has forced officials to think about and plan for all kinds of disasters besides tornadoes, such as floods, earthquakes, toxic chemical spills and even the crash of a passenger airliner.

By being a Project Impact community, Cape Girardeau has received some grant money. With grant money comes strings. And one of those strings is a straightforward requirement for the city to develop an emergency-warning system.

One option the city is studying is a radio transmitter for the National Weather Service. The nearest transmitters are in Dexter, Mo., and Ironton, Mo. Having a transmitter in the Cape Girardeau area would improve the reliability of the signal, which automatically turns on preset weather-alert radios much like turning on an alarm clock.

But why settle on just one warning system? A combination of systems might best serve the community. The weather-alert radios are a good idea. So is cable-TV emergency access. So is an automatic phone-dialing system.

And, yes, even having some outdoor sirens might be useful for folks who work and play outdoors and might not be near a radio, phone or television set when warnings of an impending disaster go out.