Savannah's Chatham County has completed a $600,000 upgrade to its warning siren system. The improvement comes as safety from severe weather remains on the minds of many.
When tornadoes struck March last year, the county had 30 warning sirens and many people complained that they didn't hear them. County officials then made siren funding a priority. And today those leaders stood beneath a newly installed siren at Savannah's Forsyth Park to announce the county now has 60 sirens.
"We have 95% of the land mass of Chatham County covered," says Clayton Scott, the director of the county's emergency management agency. "It's important because it's designed for places like this, where people are playing tennis, if there's a hazardous materials spill, if all of a sudden, the weather turns bad, so we can warn them."
Scott says, the sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors. Indoors, residents should have a weather radio with localizing technology. Sirens are tested on first Wednesdays in clear weather. In a real tornado warning two-weeks ago, the new sirens clearly could be heard in areas previously unserved by sirens.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chatham Co. improves warning sirens
