McMinnville to install six new storm warning sirens

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Commtech employees George West and Bill Brown remove some of the packaging for a siren that is part of the city’s new weather warning system, which is expected to be fully installed within the next couple of weeks. (Amy Satterwhite photo)

Just in time for tornado season, the city expects to completely replace its lone weather warning siren with an entirely new system.

McMinnville officials have purchased six sirens to be carefully placed throughout the city. Four are siren-only, while the other two, which are significantly larger, have voice capabilities. The system is expected to cost around $85,000.

The sirens are in the process of being assembled and plans are to begin installation at six different locations around town this week. The sirens with voice capabilities will be placed at the Civic Center and at Riverfront Park, while the other four will be placed at the downtown fire station, the McMinnville Public Works Department, the city’s second fire station on Old Smithville Road and at Arrowhead Drive and Morrison Street.

Roger Good of Commtech in Nashville, who sold the system to the city, said the sirens should be ready for large-scale testing in about two weeks, but noted smaller blasts may be heard before that. Good said the company would notify the public in advance of large-scale system testing once all six sirens are installed.

Mayor Royce Davenport said the sirens will likely be sounded for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings and for other serious instances where there is a possibility for extreme loss of life or property. It won’t be set off for watches.

“I expect it’s going to be very similar to what we have now,” Davenport said.

Good cautioned the system is designed to be heard outdoors only. For example, he said, if people are in their houses with gadgets going, have their TVs on, or are asleep, they may not hear the sirens.

“Basically, it’s to tell you when you’re outside to find out what’s wrong. A lot of people believe it will wake you up at 2 a.m. It may or may not,” Good said. “That is the biggest hurdle that cities have to get over with putting in a siren system like this is, educating the public it is an outdoor warning system.”

He noted the inadequacy of the city’s lone siren, which is an old air-raid siren that was installed on a pole near the Civic Center about five years ago. Plans to place other re-vamped sirens around town never materialized, and the city has decided within the past few years an entirely new system would be appropriate.

Good said problems with the air raid siren are age and reliability.