BALLWIN, Mo. – St. Louis County has one of the largest outdoor warning siren systems in the country. National Weather Service alerts come into its emergency communications center, where the sirens can be sounded with the click of a mouse.
“The sirens will go off for a National Weather Service tornado warning or a National Weather Service thunderstorm warning which has destructive winds, which are 80 miles an hour or higher,” Michelle Ryan, director of emergency management in St. Louis County, said.
The May 16 tornado that touched down across the St. Louis region first hit Richmond Heights and Clayton in St. Louis County, before making its way across north St. Louis, leaving a trail of destruction.
In St. Louis County, the outdoor warning sirens were heard on Friday.
“The Office of Emergency Management is the authority behind the sirens,” Ryan said. “The emergency communications commission, they’re the technical folks, the software, the mechanics of how the software works, the repairs. Our sirens are sounded in 911. They are a 24/7 operation. There is a box in the supervisor pod where there is always a body. As soon as they get those National Weather Service alerts for those warnings, they immediately activate those protocols to sound those sirens.”
“Within seconds, every single siren of the 204 is sent a signal to activate,” Mike Clouse, director of the emergency communications commission, said. “They will sound for three minutes. It’s always three minutes. For a National Weather Service tornado warning and yeah, it happens within seconds.”
When you hear that siren, seek shelter.
The St. Louis County system was upgraded in 2012 after voters approved an emergency communications sales tax to pay for the project. The Chief William Karagas Emergency Communications Building is one of the results of that bond. The Emergency Communications Commission takes care of the daily maintenance, procurement, as well as 911 and radio system that connects all the first responders.
“There is such a thing as siren fatigue,” Ryan said. “We know it and are acutely aware of it. You hear the test is on the first Monday of every month. Then you hear them go off for actual situations. If you grew up in Missouri or St. Louis, you’re accustomed to that sound and maybe you look up to the sky and actually ignore it.
“We ask you not to do that because the sirens are going off in the direction of the National Weather Service, who has a very good reason for issuing that warning.”