(Radio Iowa) – When severe weather blew through parts of Iowa Monday night, warning sirens in one southwest Iowa county did not go off. Jill Harvey, emergency management coordinator for Page County, says outdated equipment caused the sirens to fail in Clarinda and Braddyville.
While wind gusts peaked at 84 miles an hour, there was no significant damage from the storm in the county, but Harvey says this issue should remind people to stay proactive about weather warnings. “They’re not meant for people in their homes to be hearing, and that’s their first alert that there’s severe weather,” Harvey says. “I say that often. Don’t rely on sirens for those reasons. Have other ways to receive those warnings.”
Harvey says the county has been working to update and reprogram the system, and they also mobilize more weather spotters to keep an eye on the skies.“Plus, our 911 center will be moving to our new jail, hopefully in early July,” she says, “so we’ll have a whole different infrastructure set up that will also hopefully help eliminate some of these issues.”
There is no centralized warning siren system in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management says cities and counties are responsible for maintaining and upgrading outdoor warning sirens. Other sporadic siren problems have been reported throughout the state due to equipment failure.
