2023 tornado prompts Owen County to add up to 10 more outdoor sirens
Sirens across Owen County sounded last march as an EF-3 tornado ripped across part of McCormick's Creek State Park. Most of the people in the state park campground heard the outdoor siren at Hoosier Energy on Ind. 43 and sought shelter, most likely saving lives. Two people died.
Owen County Emergency Management Director Jack White's niece was one of the campers who heard the siren and took shelter inside a cement block bathhouse.
"When Hoosier Energy moved over here, they asked if they could do anything," White said, adding the company paid for the county's 12th outdoor emergency warning siren near the state park. "It undoubtedly saved people. It was the trigger that got people moving in the campground that night."
Now White, along with Owen County council members, and community and business leaders, is working to secure funding for up to 10 more emergency warning sirens to be placed in more rural areas of the county. Most of the current sirens are in or near more populated communities, leaving swaths of the county with no sirens.
The sirens have an audible tone designed to be heard outdoors that can travel between 1 and 2 miles, depending on terrain and weather conditions.
More warning sirens on their way
Five more sirens will be added in phase 2 of Owen County's Outdoor Emergency Warning System project. Cost of one siren including all the electronics, pole and installation is about $48,000. Funds have come from the Owen County Commissioners as well as businesses, community members and groups.
Helping offset the cost is the donation of poles and their installation by area rural electric membership cooperatives (REMCs). South Central Indiana REMC in Martinsville will pay for three poles and their installation and Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC in Bloomfield will pay for one pole and its installation. Those four sirens are already on their way to Owen County; the fifth should be coming soon as well. White anticipates all five will be installed by the end of February and will be operational some time in March.
Locations for the five new sirens will be: on the north side of Ind. 46 and Ind. 246 in Vandalia, at 8964 Keiffaber Road in Arney, close to 6500 Atkinsville Road near New Union Carolina Church Cemetery, near the junction of Ind. 67 and Ind. 231, and near the post office at 3218 South St. in Quincy.
In addition to the new sirens, Owen County and Spencer officials partnered to pay to upgrade the outdoor warning system by purchasing two new activation controllers and equipment to automatically activate the system when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning.
White said members of the Owen County Council and other officials have been instrumental in upgrading the warning system. He explained the outdoor sirens will sound only if the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning in the county or if a trained weather spotter or first responder personally observes a funnel cloud or tornado.
Anton Neff, county council District 2 representative and a member of the county's siren committee, said the new outdoor sirens are going to allow warnings in areas of Owen County that are popular outdoor recreation areas or that have poor cell service.
"Our topography in Owen County has dead zones," he explained. "You can have the best smartphones in the world but it doesn't do you any good if there's not cell phone reception or signal."
Neff said he and the other officials want people to realize that even with the additional outdoor warning sirens, they should never rely solely on one source for notification. Adding the sirens gives people another way of staying informed. "You don't know which source is going to get through and work in a timely manner," he said.
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More warning sirens expected in the future
The five new sirens aren't the last of the outdoor warning sirens Owen County officials want to add. Five more sirens are currently being considered by the county's siren committee. Locations are being identified and must be approved by the county commissioners before any more will be added, White said.
"I think we're probably looking at a year from now before the last five get installed," he said.
Any business or person who wants to donate money toward the outdoor warning siren project can contact White by email at jack.white@owencounty.in.gov or call 812-829-5035.
Reach Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Owen County adds 5 outdoor warning sirens after deadly 2023 tornado
