Tornado Sirens in Woolwich Twp

[Derecho]

Found this on the Waterloo Region Record. Woolwich Township, which encompasses the northern and eastern areas of Waterloo Region, is now using sirens to warn of tornadoes.

Around 2004 Elmira installed three sirens in the town which they claimed were to be used for chemical emergencies and tornadoes. I hadn't ever heard of them sounding for tornado warnings, but according to this article they actually do. Almost every town in Woolwich township has a siren at their fire departments. Last I checked they switched these sirens off in 2007, but according to this article they are turning the St. Jacobs siren back on for a May 22 three minute test, so I assume this means all the sirens are being re-activated around the township, but I'll have to check on that. The article also states a new siren is to be installed in Breslau next year. I'll have to check with them to see what is going on. The township website states a budget passed of a couple thousand dollars to install remote technology at the sirens to activate them by radio.

Woolwich Township is the only other municipality in Ontario that I know of which uses sirens for tornado warnings. The other being Lambton County. I've heard Amherstburg near Windsor may use their sirens for tornadoes, but it's unconfirmed. There has been some press about counties and municipalities around Ontario discussing tornado siren ventures since the 2009 tornado outbreak. This includes Essex County, Perth County, Grey County, and Dufferin County. This could be the beginning.

For reference, almost all of Lower Michigan, including all border cities, use tornado sirens. Ohio also uses them all the way to the Pennsylvania border. However, Cleveland does not, because they can't afford to buy any right now.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/...cation-planned

[seppi519]

i hope all counties get these it would be best for peoples safety,

[Derecho]

Confirmed. All towns and villages in the township will eventually all have a siren or two as Woolwich is rolling out a master emergency plan. Unconfirmed, but all of Waterloo Region may be working on a long term public emergency plan that may be rolled out in coming years. According to the Woolwich website, a refinery has donated tens of thousands of dollars for the new siren in Breslau, which borders KW. In addition to the siren network, the township has also implemented a reverse-911 telephone system that calls all landline phones with recorded emergency messages for chemical spills and tornadoes.

I just started a job in the township, and our company has a tornado shelter, tornado plan, and area siren plan. I figure it must be local township law to have these procedures in place. It's amazing to see somewhere other than Lambton County in southern Ontario taking this stuff seriously.