Henry County changing storm siren schedule

Towns surrounding Mt. Pleasant will hear more storm siren tests starting in April, with the cities of Winfield, New London, Salem, Olds and Hillsboro switching their siren tests to 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday instead of the first Wednesday of each month at noon.

Henry County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Supervisor Laura Ruby said the increased frequency would ensure safety.

“We just want to make sure that all the equipment is working properly,” Ruby said. “There could be a fluke just about any time, and maybe something happened in three weeks, and all of a sudden we’re testing our sirens and they don’t work. So we want to make sure that they’re staying up on them and making sure that everything’s working properly so that when we do need to use them, they are working.”

As for the new time, local fire departments said testing later in the day would ensure people were around to hear them.

“A lot of the smaller communities are ‘bedroom communities,’” Winfield Fire Chief Josh Sparrow said. “Not many are people are home during the noon hour when the actual whistle goes off … so when the noon siren goes off, nobody knows whether it’s working or not.”

Sparrow said that had led to some problems in Winfield.

“In Winfield, we were without our siren for about a year and nobody really knew it because nobody was around to realize that it wasn’t going off,” he said. “I just happened to be working in town on Wednesday at noon and it didn’t go off.”

Still, Sparrow said it would likely take some time for residents to adapt.

“The first time it goes off, it’s probably going to throw people into a little bit of a panic, especially in the spring, thinking a storm’s coming,” he said. “They just need to know this is the way it’s going to be from here on out. I think it’s a good change.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com