Staff writer
Remote activation and a louder sound are pluses for the new storm siren that city officials tested at noon on March 5 in Goessel.
“The current sirens will still be used for the noon whistle and in emergencies, but the new siren will make it possible for our firemen to activate warnings from their radios,” City Clerk Anita Goertzen said.
Goessel currently has two sirens located by the post office on Main and at on the east side of town. Acoustic Technology workers installed the new siren recently behind the fire station, west of the city shop.
“In addition to being louder, this siren has an all clear signal and a pre-recorded message that can be sounded,” Goertzen said. “It is possible that in the future we can use it for other messages to let people know what is going on, like for electrical outages or water emergencies.”
The new siren has a battery backup, something the current two sirens do not have, making it more reliable for city warnings.
Testing on Monday started with a steady tone for 45 seconds followed by the pre-recorded message “Tornado/Severe weather, Take cover.”
In the event of an actual tornado, this message would repeat five times. The new system has a 45-second chiming tone, followed by the message, “All clear, storm has moved out of the area”.
Goertzen said the Goessel Fire Department would learn how to activate this new system at their monthly practices. Additional testing will occur on the first Monday of each month as the fire department trains throughout storm season.