Thursday, December 09, 1999
Sirens to be ready for tornado season
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP — Residents of Butler County's fastest growing township have spent their last tornado season without warning sirens.
Workers are installing 11 sirens throughout the township, and they will be operational before the spring storm season, said township project manager Scott Bressler.
Mr. Bressler said the township spent $150,000 to buy and install the sirens, which will be strategically placed to maximize the warning signals' alert.
“The coverage of each siren is about four square miles ... so we laid them out so that the entire township was covered,” he said.
The township is just one of a number of Butler County communities that made their first-ever purchase of warning sirens after a deadly April tornado ripped through northern Hamilton and southern Warren counties, killing four and causing $125 million in damages.
Butler County's emergency management agency helped coordinate other municipalities in a deal to buy sirens in bulk. Liberty Township bought seven, Oxford ordered one to add to the city's six and Monroe bought one to add to its four. Fairfield bought four earlier this year. In late September, Middletown City Commissioners agreed unanimously to spend $132,500 for 10 sirens for the city of 55,000 residents.
In some cases, the purchases came after spirited debate. Sirens are considered a 1940s technology, useful for warning people outdoors to seek shelter, but ineffective in alerting those indoors, where they cannot easily be heard. Some officials suggested that weather radios make a better defense for home owners.
“If you are outside and hear the sirens you should seek cover and additional information from TV or radio immediately,” Mr. Bressler said.
The sirens will be activated by Union Township officials who will be advised by weather experts.
All 11 of Union Township's sirens are scheduled to be installed by Friday. The first test of the new warning system will be at noon on Jan. 5.
Subsequent siren tests will be at noon on the first Wednesday of each month.
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