The City of Lexington has installed two more weather sirens, bringing the total to 33 around Fayette County. Emergency Management Director Rob Larkin said the newest, at the old Carver School on Patterson Street near Davis Park, was tested for the first time Wednesday. He said the sirens are an important tool, but they have limitations.
“Our sirens are for outdoor warnings, so for people that are outside. The way houses are constructed now with double pane glass and well insulated, and it's just very hard. If it keeps the cool and the heat out, then it's also going to keep the sound out.”
According to a spokesman for Kentucky Emergency Management, before the April floods and May tornadoes, counties could get help paying for sirens as part of the mitigation component of public assistance. However, the Trump administration denied mitigation after those events, and the state is appealing. Larkin said Lexington’s newest siren was obtained through a 50-50 grant with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
He said the reach of the city’s outdoor sirens is weather-dependent.
“If there's low cloud cover, whatever the air density is, ambient noise, that all will affect it, but just kind of a planning range for the siren itself, the wail is about a half mile.”
Larkin said voiced warnings have a range of about a quarter-mile. Because the sirens can’t be heard indoors in many places, he recommends purchasing a weather radio and signing up for Lex Alerts, which can send texts, emails, and calls – or all three.
