Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management received a $1.1 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the purchase of new storm sirens throughout the county.
“It is something that has been in the works for over five years,” said Cerro Gordo County Emergency Manager Eric Whipple. “We are replacing all existing sirens and adding seven sirens to communities that have never had one at all, such as Rock Falls, Burchinal and Portland, for a total of 33 new sirens.”
The Clear Lake/Ventura area have eight sirens that are being replaced plus two that have been added, according to Clear Lake Chief of Police Mike Colby. Installation began the first week in December and should be completed before the end of the month, weather permitting.
“Most of the sirens in Cerro Gordo County were in good working order. The reason for the replacement, or “Improvement” project is because of updates in technology,” Whipple said.
Because of state of the art National Weather Service (NWS) capabilities and understanding of severe weather they are able to outline a geographic area where a severe thunderstorm, flash flood or tornado is most likely to occur and draw a line around it, creating a “polygon area.”
“So with [the new siren’s] technology, once that polygon warning is issued, let’s say in the Clear Lake/Ventura area, that software that we purchased for the communications centers will pick up on that warning and will only activate the sirens included in that area. If Mason City is not included in the NWS warning those sirens will not sound unless they are manually set off by the dispatch center,” Whipple said.
“So this technology is basically a hands-off approach. The dispatchers won’t have to push buttons any more,” Whipple said. “They just need to make sure that when they see that warning pop up that the sirens automatically are set off. It makes it easier on the dispatchers and it is instantaneous as soon as the NWS sounds the warning.”
Whipple said that the Emergency Management Commission just recently approved an extension for the county-wide completion date to the end of February 2024 because there are supply chain issues with the new sirens.
“They are slowly trickling in,” Whipple said. “They should all be installed and we’ll continue to test them to make sure they are operational and ready to go at a moment’s notice before the severe weather season this coming spring.”
I am very pleased with the project, it shows how communities big and small can collaborate together to ensure community safety. The new sirens will shave off valuable time notifying the outdoors of severe weather, and increase the accuracy in those notifications,” said Clear Lake Chief of Police Mike Colby. “I also want to remind the public that the system is only designed to notify those outside, not inside a home. I encourage everyone to sign up for Alert Iowa, and to have a weather radio in their homes.”
