More details given on city’s tornado sirens

Six of Clinton’s eight tornado sirens that are covered under a maintenance contract approved at the last City Council meeting are large ones that were the ones most recently purchased by the city, Emergency Management Director Toby Anders said Monday.
As with all the city’s sirens, the six big ones operate off electricity. But unlike the others, they also have battery backup, which means they should function even if electrical power is lost.
There’s another significant advantage to the bigger sirens. Anders said they have three different tones, meaning the sound goes up and down on them so they attract more attention, whereas the others have a single tone.
He also expressed confidence, just as City Manager Mark Skiles had at the council meeting, that the eight sirens under the maintenance contract should provide adequate coverage for the entire city.
“The old sirens that we’re not going to do maintenance on have no influence on our range,” saidAnders. But he added, “My thinking is if money starts coming back in, we’ll add those others.”
Specific locations of the six big sirens are as follows:
• On Dolomite Drive, east of the Clinton hospital;
• At Gary Boulevard and Corbin Lane, west of Clinton High School;
• On Petty Lane, in the Neptune Park housing addition in the south part of town;
• At Broadway Avenue and S. 14th St., near Nance Elementary School and to a lesser extent Southwest Elementary School;
• At N. 9th Street and Orient Avenue, near Clinton Middle School and to a lesser extent Washington Elementary School; and
• At S. 7th Street and Opal Avenue, in a housing area north of the Jaycee Lane Shopping Center.
The two other sirens covered by the maintenance agreement and intended to be kept indefinitely are located in the Country Meadows housing addition south of the Clinton Cemetery and in the Turtle Creek housing addition at the east edge of town.
Anders said the six big sirens have hearing ranges of about a mile and a quarter. The Country Meadows and Turtle Creek sirens have ranges of about a quarter of a mile.
He emphasized, though, as the Clinton Daily News reported last Friday, that all the Clinton sirens are intended to be heard outdoors and should not be relied on as the major warning source for people when they’re indoors.
“My main focus is that the citizens of Clinton are covered by outside warning devices,” said Anders. “They are not made to be heard inside houses. They are not primary resources for indoor notification.”
Asked how people can be warned of an approaching storm when they’re indoors, he said they should stay tuned to their television sets or radios. He also said they can sign up for the city’s Nixle community notification system which will enable them to be warned via phone, text or email.
Gene McCullough, the city’s information technology director, said residents may sign up for the community information system at the utility office in City Hall or on the city’s website. There is no cost to be put on the community information system.
During a review of siren placements Monday, Anders concluded that the city presently has a total of 15 in working order. The seven not covered by the maintenance agreement will be eliminated and not replaced as they wear out.
The locations of those seven are as follows:
*At 530 S. 30th St., in the far west part of town near the new water treatment plant now being built;
*In the Abramson housing addition, in the southwest part of town;
*In the vicinity of N. 18th Street and its intersections with Prairie Chief and Nowahy avenues in the north part of town;
*At Walton Road and Neptune Drive, in Neptune Park;
*At N. 13th Street and Hunt Avenue, near Washington Elementary School;
*At N. 6th Street and Nowahy Avenue, near the Southwest Playhouse;
*At Modelle and Glenn Smith Road, near Eastside Academy.
Along with its story last week, the Daily News printed a Google rendition of the city with red, green and yellow circle-type lines on it. Anders said the area inside the red lines has a decibel level of 80, which means folks in that area should be able to hear a storm siren most easily; those within the yellow lines have a decibel level of 75, which is second best; and those within the green lines have a decibel level of 70, which he said still meets federal requirements.
“The green is the minimum allowable,” he said.
As presently envisioned, the eight sirens covered by the maintenance contract are intended to be kept indefinitely. Anders said new ones cost in the $22,000-to-$24,000 range.
One of the big ones has new batteries in it, he said, and the maintenance contractor will bring new batteries for two more on his first trip out here. Each siren requires four batteries as backup, and they need to be kept up too.
“The older they are, the less time you have for them to activate without power,” said Anders.
“We’re going to keep using all of them as long as they last,” he said, “but my main focus is on the eight (under contract). Country Meadows was redone last year.” He said it was rewired and has a new, taller pole providing better coverage.
In addition to the city’s sirens, Anders said the new Clinton Indian Health Center has its own outside warning device which is tied into the city’s frequency. Thus, when the city sirens are set off, so is the one at CIH.