Cole County upgrades to automatic outdoor warning sirens
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Cole County's upgraded outdoor weather warning sirens are ready to go in the event of severe weather Monday night.
Jefferson City said Friday it upgraded its outdoor weather warning sirens to an automated, Rapid Warn software.
"We try to upgrade and stay current with the best software that we can for what we're trying to accomplish," Jefferson City Police Department Lt. David Williams said. "In this case, the Rapid Warn system works well with National Weather Service."
The Cole County Emergency Management Agency did not respond for comment Monday when asked how much the upgrade cost.
Cole County's more than 30 sirens are divided into seven activation zones across the county. When a destructive weather warning comes in, sirens in those particular zones will sound automatically.
"Once that destructive warning comes from National Weather Service, this program will actually send that message out for us," Williams said.
Weather warnings come into the Jefferson City 911 call center, and Williams said the sirens can still be manually controlled by a communications operator, if the need arises.
Meanwhile, Boone County outdoor weather sirens are still manually controlled by Boone County Joint Communications. Office of Emergency Management Director Chris Kelley said in an email that his office is happy with its current system and is not currently looking to upgrade to an automated system.
Boone County is split into three separate zones: north, center and south, with more than 100 siren locations. Its sirens can be heard out to about half a mile away and sound for three minutes. There is no all-clear notice that will sound when a storm has passed.
Cole County sirens also sound for three minutes. Williams said they will sound for three minutes, be silent for seven minutes and then sound for three minutes again. Once the threat is over, there will be a message that comes over the sirens saying the threat has passed.
"The sirens will not continuously run, they are battery operated," Williams said. "So, to make sure that they're going to be able to work throughout whatever the severe weather is, they will sound for three minutes, they will go off and then they will come back on."
The sirens will alert people of tornado warnings and destructive severe thunderstorm warnings.
Outdoor warning sirens are meant to notify people outdoors of severe weather threats, and Williams recommends people still have a way to find out about severe weather through a weather radio or app notification.
"We want you to get back in and seek shelter, something that's going to be able to withstand a severe storm," Williams said.
Missouri's statewide tornado drill is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday.
