CITY RELUCTANT ON WEATHER WARNING SYSTEM

Cape Girardeau doesn't have an outdoor warning system to alert residents of severe weather, and past and present city officials think such a system is too costly and might be ineffective.

But, county emergency coordinator Brian Miller said this week a warning system could benefit in alerting citizens of approaching tornadoes or other severe weather.

Today's electronic warning systems can be activated individually or in sets and even broadcast voice messages.

Miller said such warning systems would be more effective in cities like Cape Girardeau and Jackson than in rural areas.

Currently, weather warnings are broadcast to the general public via radio and television stations.

The city had a dozen warning sirens in 1980 at a cost of $110,000.

But the city council quickly voted to remove them after tests showed the sirens couldn't be heard in all areas of town.

In December 1980, the council rejected plans to install a new siren system involving 20 sirens at a cost of $256,000. Council members said it was too costly.

But when a tornado swept through Marion, Ill., in May 1982, the issue resurfaced.

Marion city officials credited two warning sirens with keeping down the death toll and has since replaced its old warning sirens with five new ones that allow the city to broadcast emergency messages.

Cape Girardeau council members took a second look at installing sirens in 1982, but again rejected such project.

Former councilman Bob Herbst opposed the idea in 1980 and 1982 and still thinks the same way. He termed it a "disastrous warning system."

He said such a system doesn't work in an area like Cape Girardeau that has numerous hills and valleys.

Herbst said any warning system would be costly. Some have estimated such a system could cost at least $500,000.

Loretta Schneider was on the council in 1982 and opposed the warning sirens.

"I think we made the right decision," she said. "I am not convinced that it would be worth the expense because I just don't feel it would be effective in warning people in our area."

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said city officials haven't looked at the issue in recent years.

"I have always had questions as to how effective it would be," he said.

The city's emergency operations chief, Mark Hasheider, said an outdoor warning system may not be as beneficial today as it would have been years ago.

If the city had a warning system already, Hasheider would advocate upgrading and maintaining the system. But he said the cost of putting in a new system would likely outweigh the benefits.

One reason is people spend much less time outside than they did years ago.

Even with new technology, the systems aren't fail-safe, Hasheider said. False alarms go off in the middle of the night and a back-up power system is needed in case electricity is lost during a storm.

Beyond that, Hasheider said, a siren going off doesn't give people the information they need.

The weather radar systems used by television and radio, give people lots of information, including early warning of storms, he said.