Big Spring Mayor Larry McLellan said the emergency siren system in the city is almost fully up and running again, just in time for another round of storms expected this week.
The sirens stopped working after being damaged by lightening during last week’s storms. All but two are up and working again and those two were tested Monday.
“It’s always a concern when there’s lives at stake,” said McLellan.
McLellan said he doesn’t know the results of Monday’s siren test, but he believes the other working sirens should cover the failed areas.
“The 10 that are working should provide the city the coverage,” McLellan said. “These two were just an overlap within the city.”
The sirens that failed happened on Fairchild Drive and in the neighborhood near Kentwood Elementary School.
McLellan said they’re working on getting a back-up power source in place, if and when this happens again.
“If the electricity goes out there, I’m not sure if we have a circuit that will back-up what we currently have and that’s going to be the challenge for us,” said McLellan.
Antwain Woodson lives on Fairchild Drive where one of the sirens wasn’t working.
He said last week’s severe weather took a toll on his house.
“The storm blew the roof off, half the roof, the shingles and everything,” Woodson said. “Water was everywhere.”
Woodson said he didn’t hear the sirens last week and that’s why he hopes the emergency warning system is fixed as soon as possible.
“We didn’t know when the storm’s coming or anything,” Woodson said. “It’ll be really important to get them working, so we can be on cue when a storm is coming.”
McLellan said the other sirens kept sounding after the storm system passed through last week.
(Information from YourBasin.com)
