SIREN REACTIVATED

Center’s silent siren reactivated Monday

BEV DARR
bev.darr@courierpost.com

CENTER - The Center siren that was not heard Friday, May 30 - when a tornado damaged the Ronnie Hulse home and stables near Center - was restored to service on Monday.
Center Mayor Dennis McMillen did not know the city’s siren was not working until Friday. The city has had it only about three months, he said, and this was the first storm warning needed.
The siren was silent, but his phone was not - McMillen said he had about 30 or 40 phone calls Saturday morning. Because it was a weekend, he waited until Monday to find out what happened.
The siren is activated by the Ralls County 9-1-1 personnel in New London, he explained, and on Monday he learned the piece of equipment that activated it was not working. “They had some sort of an equipment failure, due to a lightning strike,” McMillen explained.
After he contacted the 9-1-1 office, the equipment was quickly restored on Monday, June 2. It also was tested on Monday and was working, he said.
Becky Leake, Ralls County 9-1-1 director, explained Monday that the lightning strike that did the damage was on the night of Saturday, May 10, and a repairman arrived Sunday afternoon, May 11.
He restored the 9-1-1 radio system, she said, but she was not aware the siren in Center had been affected.
The siren is tested by Center personnel, Leake said, so her office did not test it. “They do the testing, but we are going to start, also,” she said.
Now that the siren is back in service, McMillen said, it will be tested monthly on the first Wednesday each month. This was chosen because that is when the city council meets, he said.
He explained that the 9-1-1 office has been in charge of activating all the sirens in the county, and this is logical, because it receives weather warnings more quickly than he or anyone else in Center would know about storm warnings.
In addition to the regular testing, McMillen said he hopes to make some changes, so city officials also can activate the siren as well as the 9-1-1 office, to prevent a similar problem in the future. “We are probably going to take some safety precautions,” he said. “We called the company that installed the sirens, so we can set it off ourselves if something happens and 9-1-1 can’t. But we trust them to try.
The siren cost approximately $15,000, he said, with the city paying a portion of the cost and the remainder by a grant.
“We were very fortunate the tornado didn’t hit the town,” he said. “It was about a mile south of town. I’m glad it didn’t turn and come toward town.
“It was unfortunate it did hit the Hulses’ house,” he said. Neighbors and friends quickly arrived at the Hulses’ to help with temporary repairs, he said. “I drove there about an hour or so after it  happened, and there were 20 to 25 cars.”
Center’s siren is in the middle to town and would have been heard by the Hulses and anyone else living within two or three miles of Center, he explained. “They would have been able to hear it.”