Tornado Sirens Test Planned Monday in St. Louis County

Tornado sirens are expected to go off Monday throughout St. Louis County as part of a systemwide test. The drill happens at 11 a.m for three minutes. 

The county recently overhauled its network of sirens, and all but two of 185 have been installed, said David Barney, executive director for the St. Louis County Emergency Communications Commission. The system costs $7.5 million and is controlled from two locations, one in  and the other in Chesterfield. 

The new system expands service to western and southern parts of the county that didn't previously have sirens, he said. Thousands of residents did not have a siren umbrella.

Additionally, some of the county's older sirens dated back to the 1960s and featured a rotating mechanical horn that was prone to break. Commercial power supported the sirens in the past, meaning the siren would be rendered unusable if a big storm came through the county. 

The new sirens are composed of 10 speakers stacked one on top of the other; are solar-powered; and can be used to make a public address to a select part of the county when, for example, a boil water alert is issued.

An emergency communications sales tax that voters approved in 2009 funded the project, a county news release states. TBG served as the contractor.

“This is a program that could very well literally save lives,” County Executive Charlie Dooley stated in the release.

Most of the sirens that made up the old network will be taken down by the end of the year, Barney said.

Those interested in finding sirens in their ZIP code may go to St. Louis County's website. It has been updated to reflect the newly installed sirens, Barney said.