Metro officials announced Wednesday the expansion and revamping of the city’s tornado siren system, which they said would add 20 new sirens and change the sound of all sirens to the easier to detect air-raid siren sound.
Currently there are 73 sirens spread across Davidson County. That number would increase to 93 and a mechanically generated tone would replace the current electronic tone.
According to the Metro Office of Emergency Management, the 20 new sirens are expected to be installed by March 7, and the upgrade to the existing system is estimated to be completed by the end of April.
A list of the locations for the new and existing sites can be found here [1].
In 2002, Metro received federal grant funds to build the current siren warning system based on locations determined through 2000 Census data and outdoor population expectations. The expansion of the system will use the same methodology but with the latest 2010 Census data used to recommend new locations.
The system is meant to provide emergency weather alerts to those outdoors when a tornado warning is issued for Davidson County by the National Weather Service. Sirens sound for three minutes straight every 10 minutes while the warning is in effect.
The estimated cost of the system expansion and upgrade is $2 million, funded by a capital bond program proposed by Mayor Karl Dean and approved by the Metro Council last year.
Links:
[1] http://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/OEM/docs/SirenList.pdf