MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A crew with Sirens for Cities Inc. has been working to replace and restore non-functioning sirens in Madison County.
Sam Compton with Sirens for Cities said that the organization was able to work with Madison County officials to replace these. They said that only one siren is left to fix on the list.
Sirens for Cities, Inc. has been designing, installing and servicing weather warning systems since 1996. They are an authorized Sentry Siren dealer and specialize in warning systems, severe weather detection software and siren system design and terrain studies.
On Tuesday, February 14th, Madison County’s EMA Director Jeffery Birdwell gave an update on the replacement process of the tornado sirens in the County. Six sirens were either replaced or completely new and one was relocated:
- Fire Station 15 on Sparkman Drive – Replaced
- 99 Indian Creek, roundabout at Old Monrovia Road – Replaced
- 3221 Mastin Lake – Replaced
- 323 Beadle Lane – New
- 219 Cap Atkins – New (still needs to be installed)
- Rabbit Lane in Limestone County – New
- Dunlop Boulevard in Madison – Moved (Fully Operational)
While these sirens have been installed, crews have to go through multiple steps in order to get them fully operational.
You’ve got to get utilities from wherever that location is to the pole, then you have to move the electronic components that are below the siren. Once you have power to the pole, you have to have the power hooked up. So, where we are at, most of them is we are waiting on either the electronic components to be installed or the power to be installed.
Jeffrey Birdwell, Madison County EMA Director
Tornado Warnings & Sirens
Once the new sirens become fully operational, they will be added to the polygon warning system the county uses to set off the sirens. This means, that when the National Weather Service issues the tornado warning, any siren within that polygon will be activated. They are able to determine the specific sirens using their computer software. There are only two other counties that activate sirens based on polygons, DeKalb and Marshall counties.
The remaining counties in North Alabama set their sirens off on a County-wide basis. When the tornado warning is issued, in one of the counties in red above, every siren in the county will be activated. Even if the tornado-warned storm may be in the northern edge of the county and you live in the southern part, your siren will go off.
The big thing is having multiple ways of receiving weather alerts.
Jeffrey Birdwell, Madison County EMA Director
The Live Alert 19 app is a great way to get weather alerts right away. Other ways to stay up to date when severe weather strikes are purchasing an NOAA radio or signing up for your local EMA’s alert system.
