Sirenless Kokomo, Indiana got lucky yesterday

[FedTB]

I can't believe that a city of 52,000-plus that is prone to tornadoes has no siren system! Kokomo got lucky yesterday in that there were no deaths or serious injuries due to the tornado. I read online that the city opted last year to buy 3,000 weather radios through Best Buy for its citizens instead of budgeting for sirens, because funds aren't there for something like that. Have they ever heard of a bond issue or, God forbid, a special tax increase to purchase a siren system?!

I'm sure that the city will "look into" sirens again after yesterday's tragedy but will shoot the idea down because they were spared of any deaths or serious injuries. Yesterday they got lucky; next time that luck may run out!

Terre Haute's in the same boat. No sirens there except on the university campus. But none scattered about the city.

[Bryan]

Many places opt for weather alert radios because it is way cheaper to hand out radios than it is to pay for even just the maintenance on the sirens, relying on one method of early warning is never a good idea. The best thing is to have a number of different methods to better the chances of getting the message to everyone. Siren systems are really expensive to put in and maintain especially if you're having to purchase a completely new system. Aside from budget there are a number of other factors that may have led to them not having sirens. If you don't have anyone who can take the time to test/check on the system or anyone to repair the system or can't afford either of those things it makes things even harder for smaller towns/cities to be able to install or maintain the siren system properly.

[Daniel]

They could get several Kheraj sirens for the price of one domestic mechanical siren.

[Taterworks]

The information I have, from a resident on the west side of Kokomo, is that they do have sirens now, and they went off shortly before the storms arrived.

[uncommonsense]

The information I have, from a resident on the west side of Kokomo, is that they do have sirens now, and they went off shortly before the storms arrived.

They must have heard them from elsewhere as this article from yesterday says they don't have them and the mayor isn't budging on the issue.

http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/koko ... ado-58876/

(Lots of ignorance in there about the use of sirens but I have to give them major kudos for subsidizing the cost of weather radios for residents).

[austin-burns]

The information I have, from a resident on the west side of Kokomo, is that they do have sirens now, and they went off shortly before the storms arrived.

That explains the two Eclipses Tyler (Notre.Dame1003) found on the West South side of Kokomo. Take a look:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit? ... itd97d1PsE

Glad to hear they finally came to their senses and bought an outdoor warning system instead of wasting all of it on an text message alert system.

[bmeiser]

Those Eclipses are owned by a factory on the west side of Kokomo and are the only sirens in the city. There are 4 total on the factory's property, 2 of which are less than 200 yards apart. Unfortunately the city still doesn't own any sirens.