Sunday, April 18, 1999
Hooking into Indiana sirens buys time
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Minutes often save lives in those critical moments before a tornado rips apart a community. But that time doesn't come cheap.
The people of Harrison Township and the city of Harrison heard the warning cry of civil defense sirens a full 23 minutes before anyone else in Hamilton County on April 9, when a twister tore across southeastern Indiana and Southwest Ohio in the early-morning hours, killing four people.
That's because town officials there won permission nine years ago to sound their alarms early.
Severe thunderstorms, which often spawn tornadoes, usually move from west to east across Ohio.
Often, dangerous weather has moved beyond those communities on the western
fringe of the state before Hamilton County comes under a tornado warning, which means a tornado has been sighted.
That was the case in Harrison in June of 1990.
No one died that day, but the tornado destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes and touched everyone in the community.
In the aftermath of that devastation, Judy Kercheval heard some incredible news.
“When we investigated why we had no warning, we were told that Harrison was the first line of defense for Hamilton County,” said Mrs. Kercheval, a Harrison councilwoman and member of the Civil Defense Committee.
“We said: "That's not acceptable.”'
She and other town officials lobbied, and eventually were given permission, to signal their own alarms in the city and township.
Then town officials hooked into the Dearborn County, Ind., weather-alert system by purchasing tone-alert radio receivers — called plectrons — which notify them when civil-defense sirens to the west are activated.
The receivers cost about $500, and Harrison had three installed.
“I thought it was very nominal, considering what we went through,” Mrs. Kercheval said.
The option is available for any community in the county, so long as they can afford the equipment to link with Dearborn County.
Bill Black, director of the Dearborn County Emergency Management Agency, said his county is in the same boat.
His staff closely watches weather conditions in Ripley County, to their west.
“We monitor their (weather-alert) system,” Mr. Black said. “Sometimes radar just doesn't catch these things right away, so we have to listen to their emergency frequencies.
“When their property starts getting torn up, we have to activate our sirens. That's all there is to it.”
Addyston Vice Mayor Ralph Eggleston said he was unaware of the option to hook into Dearborn County's warning system. Mr. Eggleston said his town is trying to add a third siren, but there hasn't been the money to buy one.
Sirens start at about $3,000 but can cost as much as $15,000.
“We'd like the extra warning, if it's financially feasible for us,” Mr. Eggleston said of being a part of the Dearborn County system.
Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus asked that all communities to the west be notified of their option to sound the sirens early.
“It can be costly,” said Don Maccarone, director of the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency. “And there can be larger operational costs.”
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