Cole County siren drill stimulates outreach awareness

Tornado sirens sounded Tuesday at 10 a.m. for the annual statewide tornado drill in Missouri.

The tornado drill came during Severe Weather Week and just hours after a tornado ravaged through Nashville, Tenn.

Sierra Thomas, the Cole County Emergency Management Agency director, said she drove out to Brazito to make sure sirens could be heard, but said they may not be reaching everyone.

"I noticed that plenty of people were simply unaware of the testing in general," Thomas said. "Although radio, newspaper, and television media are tried and true outlets to reach the public I feel as though our office really needs to push to have a presence on social media because that is where the majority of people are getting their news from in today's age."

According to FEMA.gov, the system with 29 sirens cost about $750,000 with each siren averaging between $30,000 and $35,000. The joint Cole County-Jefferson City siren project was completed in 2012. All 29 sirens around Cole County work properly but Thomas said some people were still uninformed about the drill.

Link to Cole County warning sirens map.

"I have said since day one that community outreach and involvement is my top priority at this time and Social Media outreach is proving to be the main way of getting that accomplished as quickly as possible," Thomas said.

After the drill, Thomas made a new twitter account to take advantage of new ways to reach the people.

One woman we spoke with in Jefferson City said phone notifications are a good idea to get in contact with the new generation.

"Everyone is always on their phones, everyone has their phone with them at all times even like if its at night and they're sleeping and if there's a loud notification they would notice and would be prompted to see there's a tornado coming," said Elle Wilbers.

Jason Turner, Jefferson City Fire Department division chief said preparation is the best thing for the county.

"Anything we practice is a positive outcome especially when you look at whats happened in the last 24 hours in Nashville, a reminder to us here in Jefferson City that the risk is here from what we went through in May of last year, so being prepared in crucial for our community and anyone in our state," Turner said.

Thomas said she will be holding events soon to help get ready for future severe weather.