All sirens in Jefferson City sound properly for state drill

All 30 sirens in Jefferson City sounded properly Tuesday along with the 14 sirens in Cole County.

The director of Emergency Management in Cole County said the reason for the drill is for the entire community to be prepared for severe weather.

Schools, churches, and government buildings in Cole County got their first dose of siren testing for the upcoming severe weather season.

Last year two sirens were struck by lightning.

Bill Farr with Cole County Emergency Management said the price tag to replace those sirens was $30,000 each.

“It was a direct hit. Blew a hole clear to the top of it,” said Farr.

Cole County was also able to test out a new siren system in the communication center today.

“It tells us exactly from right here in the 911 communication center if the siren activated or not,” said Farr.

He said upgrading the new siren and siren system cost more than $3 million. However, Farr said it was well worth the cost.

“These new siren systems they literally can push a button from inside the 911 communication center any time of day for maybe siren number two and they get a signal back and they know it’s activated.”

Before the new system was installed, Farr said police would wait near the siren to make sure it sounded properly.