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Headlines CEMA Continues Updates to Chatham County’s Siren Program
In July of 2008, the Chatham County Commission voted unanimously to approve the purchase and installation of 33 additional outdoor emergency warning sirens which will provide 95% of Chatham County with siren coverage.
The new sirens began arriving to Chatham County in November and will replace eight antiquated sirens as well as add 25 new sirens to the County inventory. After the expansion, Chatham County will have a total of 59 sirens to warn people engaged in outdoor activities of hazards in their communities.
“The sirens will be installed where people are most likely to gather for outdoor activities, and we’ll now have the ability to limit siren activation to only those areas of the county that are threatened. People indoors should continue monitoring their all-hazard radios as the sirens most likely will not be heard indoors,” stated Clayton Scott, the Chatham Emergency Management Agency’s Director.
When activated, the sirens have a continuous wail for three minutes. This warning sound indicates that people should immediately go inside and turn on a radio or television for instructions. The warnings are primarily for tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, fires or extreme severe weather.
The sirens the county uses comply with a federally endorsed (FEMA CPG-1-17) audible range and can be heard within a mile radius of each siren’s site; this is the accepted standard. This type of siren has four speakers that emit the tones and if one speaker fails to, the others will continue to operate. These sirens will also continue to operate when there is no power being supplied to the system due to the fact they they are designed to run off of the two 12volt batteries inside the cabinet.
Chatham County residents should continue to monitor the CEMA website for a new siren location map that is currently in development.
