Murphysboro Continues Severe Weather Preparedness

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By Nick Hausen
By Randy Livingston

Story Created: Feb 1, 2012 at 6:29 PM CDT

Story Updated: Feb 1, 2012 at 8:46 PM CDT

MURPHYSBORO -- Most towns across Southern Illinois have warning sirens, but only a few are as prepared as Murphysboro, because it's classified as storm ready.

"There are three communities Murphysboro, Carbondale, and Du Quoin which have been recognized by the National Weather Service as being storm ready communities," said Deputy Director of Murphysboro EMA Brian Manwaring.

He's been working on the city's warning sirens for more than twenty years and says the entire community will be covered once the new sirens are installed.

"We recognized some areas in Murphysboro where the communities grown and we didn't have coverage and we were trying to target those areas," Manwaring explained.

Two of the three targeted areas have schools in them, including the high school.

Murphysboro has been trying to get funding for the extra sirens for several years after a survey showed community support.

"We've identified the need for these for sometime. Through the help of State Representative Bost and Senator Luechtefeld, we were able to secure some grant funding," said Manwaring.

The installation of the three new sirens brings the total in Murphysboro to twelve (ten owned by the city, two others owned privately). Half will be equipped with a battery backup in case power fails.

"We do have a history of these events happening and we want to make sure we're as prepared as we can be for them," said Manwaring.

The three new sirens are located next to the high school, in the Jackson Square Shopping Center and at the intersection of Watson Road and Route 13.

Current Weather

Marion Regional
Current: 75°
Partly Cloudy
High: 84°
Low: 57°
Wind: 5 MPH
Pressure: 0.00
Humidity: 31 %
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