Broken Arrow To Upgrade, Replace Over 20 Outdoor Emergency Sirens

The City of Broken Arrow is going to upgrade and replace some of its outdoor emergency sirens. Roughly 50 sirens, about 18 to 20 years old are currently in place and the city will be replacing and upgrading 21 of them.

The idea came back in 2018 when Broken Arrow residents approved the 2018 General Obligation Bond which included the city making upgrades to the outdoor sirens. On top of that, the city received federal funding from FEMA in the form of a Hazard Mitigation Performance Grant bringing the total cost of the project to just over $900,000.

The new sirens will help alert residents more effectively about outdoor emergencies such as tornadoes and flooding than the current sirens.

"They're a little bit louder, and the coverage is 360° at the horn sound versus our current system where it's just a horn and that horn rotates about 340° but the sound only comes from that when the horn is facing you," Jamie Ott, Broken Arrow's Emergency Management Director said.

However, while 21 sirens will be updated, the other sirens are in working order and the city will continue to use them for the time being.

"For the time being, we’re going to continue with what we have. We’re attempting to upgrade our current older sirens with the newer ones, and then as we go forward, we'll review," Ott said.

Broken Arrow will need to have at least 10 new sirens installed by September 28, 2023 as a condition of the getting the federal funding.