By Timothy Bradfield
Correspondent
LaFayette, Ga., is considering widening its tornado warning siren coverage area, officials say.
“This time of the year, thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms can pop up most anytime,” Mayor Neal Florence said. “That’s the time that you want to be looking at it and make sure that you have some sort of warning system in place.”
There’s now just one warning siren within the city’s almost eight square miles. But the City Council is weighing a proposal that calls for the elimination of that single siren and the installation of two sirens, in the north and south ends of the city.
Public Safety Director Tommy Freeman pitched the idea.
“It’ll help provide us about 95 percent coverage of the city, with two sirens, instead of the present coverage, which is probably no more than 70 percent,” he said.
The cost for the two-siren plan would be $17,000 to $18,000, city officials said.
Mayor Florence said the only hurdle is whether the city can afford it, though he says it would be the best route.
“You’re not going to prevent any damage that would be caused by the tornado,” he said. “But you might save some lives.”
Amanda Little lives in south LaFayette with her husband Tim, more than two miles from the city’s tornado siren. She said she’s never heard it, but she would like to.
“That would wake a ton of people up,” she said.
Her husband is also in favor of the two-siren proposal.
“When these storms come up at night, there are a lot of people that don’t have these (weather) radios,” Mr. Little said. “By the time something like that was to happen, it’d be too late for them.”
LaFayette’s tornado warning siren temporarily is disconnected because of roofing work at the Public Safety Department, which houses police and fire personnel.
When that’s completed in a week or two, city officials said, they’ll nail down the direction to take with the tornado sirens.
Timothy Bradfield is based in Walker County. Contact him at timothyb2010@gmail.com.