When severe weather hits, you’ll usually hear that loud warning siren nearby.
In Leavenworth County, emergency management officials say some of its sirens are in need of replacement.
“We have 41 sirens in the county. We've replaced 20 of those 41 starting in 2008,” Leavenworth County Emergency Management Director, Chuck Magaha said. “Sirens that we have left standing as well as the ones that were replaced, were purchased in 1972.”
He says 21 more sirens still need to be replaced. Each replacement costs roughly $24,000 each.
“There’s been a lot of wear and tear on these old sirens and it's time for them to be replaced,” Magaha said. “The county is not in any jeopardy whatsoever, it's just that I need to be proactive in the response in getting the sirens replaced.”
The sirens are checked daily for issues and are tested on the first Wednesday of each month.
“The old sirens that I have up right now, we're actually have a bone yard out in our quarry that we store our equipment at,” Magaha said. “It's just in an open field that the contractor can go in and take parts from that to keep my sirens that I have up in the air right now functional.”
Magaha says through a depreciation fund, 13 sirens will be able to be replaced immediately. For the additional sirens, he says they will have to come up with a creative financing plan for replacement.
Again, all sirens are currently functioning and operational. He encourages residents to have an emergency action plan in case severe weather does hit.
Be sure to keep a weather radio handy and stay up to date on severe weather.
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