By: attagirl on 4/26/09
I have no problem hearing MTSU's siren inside my house. In fact, it wakes me up in the night.

What technology could possibly be better than warning sirens? On Good Friday, I lost my electricity before the tornado hit. We can't all rely on our TV's and realistically most people will not purchase weather radios.

By: eoeo on 4/26/09
If other larger areas like Nashville feel that the sirens are useful, I think we need to look at the issue again. Many people are not at home with their TV's and radios and the sirens would be a warning signal to them. When the city/county looked at them before, we had not had such a destructive tornado. From what I read in the paper, we are becoming a "tornado alley". Anything that would save lives should be considered.

By: diddlede on 4/26/09
We live off Haynes Drive at Memorial. We can hear the MTSU sirens going off inside our home. When the TV is predicting Tornado Watch or Tornado Warnings I let up my windows, which I did on the day the tornado hit, and we could hear the siren at MTSU. We always let our windows up when the word tornado is mentioned. My parents did the window thing when I was growing up and I will continue to do this. We, also, have an Alert Radio which we let run constantly that day. When we lived in Memphis they had sirens on all the Fire Stations. This might be something to look at if the City does decide to go with Tornado sirens.

By: Predsboro on 4/26/09
I was in Atlanta last Sunday night staying in a hotel in the Cobb Road area right off 285 and 75 when tornado sirens went off. Let's just say that we had no problem hearing them in our room @ the Doubletree.

I agree with the sirens at fire station approach.

By: Macgyver on 4/26/09
Up north we had sirens on schools and fire stations. They were tested every 1st Saturday of the month at 8am. They work there is no doubting that. Saftey is money well spent.

By: talyho on 4/26/09
We're not even a mile away from MTSU and have a really hard time hearing their siren inside our house. It certainly wouldn't wake us at night. That's why we have Channel 5's WeatherCall service. For $9.95 a year, we've registered our home address and listed up to 3 phone numbers (cell and landline) and 3 e-mail addresses to be contacted when a Flash Flood warning, a Severe Thunderstorm warning or a Tornado warning are issued (you choose what you want). It has definitely come in handy more than once this season! I opted to go that route instead of a weather radio due to price and the fact that I can get a phone call wherever I am.

I grew up in Tullahoma where there are sirens and I think that, yes, they can be very helpful for *some* people. It just depends on how close you are to them and whether or not you can be woken at night by them. If there was one on schools and/or fire stations, that would probably work better. We live right both one of each (closer to us than MTSU), so I'm sure we'd hear it plenty fine.

By: 0be1 on 4/26/09
I work for a local company that designs and sells emergency management notification systems which I know we have one in Rutherford county emergency management center. I know these systems are used mainly for alerting EMS, police, Fire, FEMA, etc. officials, but I also know what the systems are capable of.

The systems are used from anything like tornadoes, to hurricanes, wildfires, amber alerts, terrorist threats, plane crashes anything you can almost imagine. The ways people can be contacted are home phone, work phone, cell phone, mobile email, fax, pagers, and regular email.

Now I know there are a lot of people in Rutherford county, but think of the possibilities a system like this would do for the city and the county. I too am used to sirens from up north and they were very efficient, but if the city needs an alternative, here it is. I say get the money (and I know there are federal grants out there so don't try and lie to us) and get us a few of these systems. You cannot put a price on human life and Good Friday was just a warning shot.

By: lupusman on 4/26/09
I am having a problem understanding why the sirens cost 1/2 million dollars? I would like very much for the city to let us see the bid they received for such sirens including the number of sirens and their locations, and additional annual operating costs? Although the weather radios are good (I have one) the main downside is that you must be home and in range of the radio in order to hear the warning. Although sirens would not lessen the property damage caused by tornados, they could reduce the injuries and loss of life. I hope the city officials will revisit this issue to include the best locations to install the sirens, and send out requests for proposals to many vendors. They may find a solution for far less than
$ 500,000!

By: hamrtyme on 4/26/09
I live behind MTSU & cannot hear the sirens inside at all, even if I'm outside the wind has to be just right for me to hear them. The city seems to have the money for tennis courts to help a few people but no money to help the most. Get some bids & put up more sirens. This area seems to be more of a target for dangerous weather, next time it could be worse. Every little bit that can be done to alert the public is a great help.

By: attagirl on 4/26/09
talyho, I lost all phone service and electricity during the storm. Your warning system wouldn't have worked for me. Luckily I can hear MTSU's siren just fine.

By: stewartn on 4/26/09
Personally, I watch the weather forecasts every afternoon and evening and I knew there was the potential of deadly storms at least 24 hours before they hit. When Lisa Patton (News 2) says to take cover, I take cover. Surely there is a text message, phone system, etc. that could send out warnings like they do for MTSU students that could warn those without access to television. That's already in play and could warn individuals through their phones when sirens might not be heard, as so many of the readers above have stated.

Just my opinion.

By: Onthehill on 4/27/09
First of all..Bragg says this was looked at in 2001..which was like 8 years ago. This county has doubled the population since then.
You say the weather radios cost around $40, but there again...we are in a bad economy state and those who have lost jobs or are barely getting by are not going to spend the money on a weather radio.

If you go back & look at the history this mid tn area has had since 2001, the number of tornados has risen drastically. If I remember correctly, I recall there being more than one tornado that hit here on April 10.
I recall Lisa Patton saying that day, "if you live south of Murfreesboro & you are outside or at the window trying to see what is going on north of you, you need to take cover because there is another one headed in your direction." She was right. We live off of County Farm road & a small, but yet powerful one came off of Tiger Hill. It took down huge trees; laid some over on at least 4 homes & took down power lines. I know because I went out and got the damage assesment and turned it into Roger Allen, director of the RCEM.



I think this siren issue should be revisited as well. I am so saddened to know that we lost two wonderful people. No one knows if this would have saved them, but having the sirens can't hurt. I wonder what Mr.Bryant thinks about the siren situation. My heart goes out to him so much.

Maybe we should have a voting day, kinda like the presidential election and have the voting booths for both county and city residents. I do not recall being asked my opinion in 2001. I would have voted for them.

For this tornado to be called an EF4, that is rare, but it happened & took two lives. If it happened once, It could happen again.
No matter what route you take, you can't make everyone happy. I have talked to several people that came from other states & towns & they all had sirens.


One point I want to make as well...when many lost their power to the storm, there were wide spread outages with cell phones as well. Mine didn't come back up for hours. If we have a case like that Friday, where several tornados hit, I wouldn't be able to get text & so forth, if the first one caused an outage. I do know that according to the Sheriffs Department, Verizon sent a moblie truck down here and set up their tower so that some people could have service.

I think that if they don't put sirens in, the city should offer the weather radios free of charge to the public...I think that would be alot cheaper. They wouldn't have to deal with the upkeep portion either, it would be up to the residents. Kinda like they are giving out those boxes for the cable change-over to digital in June.

Like I said, you can't please everyone, but you can't put a price on life either.

I continue to pray for those affected & I hope that the city & county can work together & truely think what this has cost already...42 million dollars is alot of money compared to $500,000 & the upkeep. I am also curious, like Lupusman above, why are these sirens so expensive? And the upkeep $100,000 a year? That is a huge amount to me.
If we can get cameras at many intersections to save lives & slow people down, we should be able to get sirens to save lives as well. No one knows where the next tornado is going to hit again & unfortunately I believe it will.

Yes, this disaster may have brought work for many contractors, but go ask those people that lost everything & see what price would be fair to them..there isn't one..you can't put a price on life and memories.

Thank the Lord that He gave us memories. For most of the victims, that is all they have.

Murfreesboro, I am praying for us!
God Bless!

By: 0be1 on 4/27/09
As I have stated in a previous post and again commenting to what others have said, had we had an emergency notification system in place, people would have been warned and contacted BEFORE power was knocked out or cell towers became overloaded will calls or downtimes. all we need is an ounce of prevention.

By: attagirl on 4/27/09
The sirens are the best "ounce of prevention," Obe.

Aside from cost, there is simply no downside. And if we can afford to put cameras on our redlights, we can certainly afford a few tornado sirens that will potentially save lives.

By: Alaskadave on 4/27/09
Problem is it all about money not your safety or mine. Cameras at stop lights generate cash for the city sirens do not. If everyone understands that government does not care one iota about safety only how to get their hands on your money then you will understand why we do not have warning sirens.

By: Dave42 on 4/27/09
Where I live now we have an emergancy siren, and our little community has a population of less than 300. We also can hear sirens from other communities that are over 5 or more miles away. And by the way, ours didn't cost anywhere near $500,000 and it works just fine. I know because they test it every Wednesday and 11:00 am.

By: vdanr on 5/1/09
My family moved approximately two years ago just inside the city limits, and we do not hear the sirens at MTSU. People, if we want things to happen in our city, then we need to vote people in office that will make things happen. It's obvious that the majority of our elected officials are more money hungry and want to implement things to get our money rather than provide a safer environment for the citizens.

By: Acoustics101 on 5/11/09
How well can you hear your city’s warning sirens from indoors? I have a better alternative to the current warning sirens. It's a system based on warning devices that can be heard from indoors and in moving vehicles at over two miles from the warning device. It also has a distinct sound unlike that of any siren. It is a system based on my patent 4686928. Here are links to my patents:
http://www.delphion.com/details?&pn=US04686928__ (Dynawhistle)
http://www.delphion.com/details?pn10=US04429656 (Ultrawhistle)

It has been widely published that the current sirens have a range of only slightly over a mile and were never intended to be audible from indoors. A system using my devices would require far fewer units to cover a given area and provide cities with better coverage for less money.

I am including a video of the original prototype test of my previous device tested in July, 1982 at the Cincinnati/Northern KY International Airport which led to my previous patent 4429656. This device was audible from Delhi, OH. The later device is a full 10 dB louder than the prototype which measured 85 dB at 1 mile and 70 dB at 2.5 miles. This means 95 dB at 1 mile and 70 dB at up to 4 miles, terrain permitting. The loudest warning sirens today have a 70 dB radius of 11,000 feet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhxzW21ejc

I would like for a manufacturer (hopefully from my home state of Kentucky) to build one of my Dynawhistles and test it in actual cities. I believe it would soon catch on, as unlike a siren of equal output, it would not sound unbearable to those within the first few hundred feet and would likewise be audible in areas and situations where no current siren would.

For a frequency of 420 Hz using a 45” horn, my Dynawhistle (Patent 4686928) has an output of about 95 dB at 1 mile, 85 dB at 2 miles and a 70 dB radius of up to 4 miles. It measures 135 dB at 100 feet, but due to its frequency spectrum, it has an atmospheric absorption loss of less than 1 dB/1000 feet. Due to the lack of upper harmonics, it is also easier on nearby ears per rated dB. I feel it is the answer to the current problem of the public not being able to hear the warning from indoors.
Most sirens produce a higher fundamental frequency with a wealth of upper harmonics. The atmospheric absorption loss of a typical current siren is over 2 dB/1000 feet. The sound is very loud and harsh to nearby ears, but it is very rare to see a 70 dB radius of even 2 miles on even the loudest current warning sirens. In addition to lower frequencies sounding mellower to the ear and carrying further, they also penetrate structures better than higher frequencies.

By: siewchal on 8/23/10
Too bad I did not read this article when it first appeared. What was not mentioned was that the siren specifications were more restrictive than the specifications to build the Discovery Spaceship. No siren manufacturer would ever agree to the restrictions in the specifications, nor could anyone build a siren to meet the requirements. Totally unheard of, more than 50 pages of words that had no meaning toward to usefullness or longevity of a siren.