4 New Emergency Sirens Being Installed In Tulsa County

Crews are installing four new storm sirens in the Tulsa County Network.

The new sirens will be up and running before the weekend and the next potential round of severe weather. The first one is being installed in Turley, near the old Cherokee School. 

"This was an area which was in need of additional alert systems and we're happy to get this in," said County Commissioner Stan Sallee

The new sirens are all solar powered, with battery backup. The new models are louder than the oldest ones in the system and stand 65 feet high. This design means the sound travels better.

"The coverage area is about 1 1/2 miles so this one will reach roughly to about 46th Street North to the south to 76th Street North to the North," said Sallee.

The County is installing four new sirens: in Turley, in Sand Springs in the Pleasant Oaks Subdivision, on Turkey Mountain, and at 87th and Riverside. All are in areas now considered to be gaps in the current system, where an outdoor warning might be helpful. Though many people call them tornado sirens they're for all weather and civil emergency alerts including floods.

"With weather coming in, it's a great time to have these systems in here. Hopefully, we won't need them and use them, but we'll be prepared and ready if we do," said Sallee.

The siren installation will be finished up on Thursday. They'll be tested as part of the regular cycle next Wednesday at noon.