“Each entity has its own system,” Jeff Busch, communication center executive director, told the county commissioners Thursday.
“The only collaboration is we set them off countywide when we get the warning from the National Weather Service,” he said.
Among concerns is those systems that do not have a capability for the center to receive automatic confirmation that sirens indeed have gone off when activated at the center.
When a tornado hit the area of the Meijer Distribution Center in Tipp City in early June, there was a report that the warning sirens did not activate in that area of town. The situation was investigated with at least one person saying the next day that they did hear the sirens.
There are about 30 sirens and 12 different systems in use, according to information provided to the commissioners.
County Commissioner Wade Westfall said the exploration is a good idea, considering Miami County has experienced several tornadoes in the past few years.
Among the storms were damage primarily in Union Twp. in the Memorial Day 2019 tornadoes that caused extensive damage in area counties; a January 2020 tornado that hit downtown Troy and areas of the Southwest Historic District damaging several buildings; and a tornado that hit areas along McKaig Avenue and into the historic district area on July 23.
“We have had five tornadoes in last three years. Those (sirens) are critical from the standpoint of citizens,” Westfall said.
The age of sirens varies greatly. The village of Casstown bought new ones a couple of years ago, but other communities have sirens that don’t work, and one area has what are believed to be old air-raid sirens, Busch said. Some systems have updated technology with two-way communication providing information to the entity if sirens activated, he said.
All systems for public safety sirens are being reviewed, including advanced technology features, he said. A cost estimate has not yet been developed.
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