Coweta County continues to expand its outdoor warning sirens across the county. The newest can be found in Turin and at Arnall Middle School.
Coweta County Emergency Management Director Jay Jones the two new outdoor sirens were recently installed in Turin at the water tower at the Ga. Highway 54 and Ga. Highway 16 intersection. The other new site is at Arnall Middle School on Lora Smith Road.
“This will bring the total number of outdoor warning sirens to 28 within Coweta County and all municipalities,” Jones said.
According to the county’s siren policy, the sirens are tested, weather permitting, the first Wednesday of each month at 11 a.m. If experiencing bad weather or if skies look “threatening,” the monthly test is cancelled for that particular month.
Other than testing, the only reason residents should hear a siren if a tornado warning has been issued for the area where the siren is located, Jones said.
Coweta County uses a software system called WeatherWarn. The software is programmed to “read warnings” from the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
Jones said the warning system is site specific, so not every siren in the county will activate – only those where the threat is issued.
“Our rational for the sirens is placing them at locations where large numbers of people gather outdoors who may not have access to the ever-changing weather conditions,” Jones said. “They are not intended to be the only means of notification but to augment other types of warnings. Cell towers can ‘go down’ during storms and those relying strictly on a phone notification may not get it. If you are outdoors you won’t hear your weather radio.”
The siren system was paid for in part with SPLOST (special purpose local options sales tax) funds as well as matching grants for several locations.
