An outdoor warning alert system may be in the future for the City of Smithville. Mayor Josh Miller raised the issue during a work session last Monday night with the aldermen, Smithville Fire Chief and DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker.

Currently the city’s only outdoor warning alert is an antiquated siren atop the city hall building.

Parker said the siren on city hall is a push button mechanical siren and someone has to be there to push the button when needed. If we were to use it the way it is, central dispatch would get the warning from the weather service and have to contact a police officer who would have to get up here to city hall and push the button. It’s not the best system.

Automated tornado sirens strategically placed across the city could be set up to activate when tornado warnings are issued for this area.

When the siren is activated, it would sound alerting the public to seek shelter immediately.

Mayor Miler said he would like to have outdoor tornado warning sirens placed on city owned water towers near the high school, on Miller Road, and near the airport as well as a new one at city hall and possibly at another location on the Sparta Highway.

Although outdoor tornado sirens are effective, Parker said they are not as reliable at night when people are at home asleep. However he said if you do live close to one it will rattle you out of bed. It is also important to make the sirens automated so they will trigger automatically without having to rely on dispatching.

Parker also said he had talked to DeKalb 911 Director Brad Mullinax and he was getting some prices on a system that would go off through electronic switching. The one we are looking at would trigger up to 10 different devices or sirens.

Chief Parker also reminded the mayor and aldermen that in DeKalb County, residents have access to a free service called Hyper-Reach, a state of the art mass emergency notification system, designed specifically for public safety. Through Hyper-Reach residents can get automatic tornado warning alerts over landline telephones or cell phones the moment they are issued for DeKalb County. Landline phones are automatically registered but weather alerts to mobile phones are only included by enrolling in the system.

https://signup.hyper-reach.com/hyper_reach/sign_up_page_2/?id=25544