The county will replace broken warning sirens and plans to upgrade the mass notification system to post alerts on social media.
The Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency received more than $118,000 in state funding to purchase seven outdoor sirens and make the notification system improvements.
Money will first be spent on replacing dead sirens in Linden, near the studios for the Crawfordsville radio stations and at New Hope Christian Church, EMA director Shari Harrington said.
New sirens will be offered to schools where ones haven’t already been installed, and plans are still underway to install a siren in Mace.
Separately, the city has purchased a siren to be installed between downtown and Crawfordsville Fire Station No. 2, replacing ones removed from the courthouse and former fire station for construction.
Each siren covers a one-mile radius.
“We don’t want people counting on these sirens at night or indoors because they’re actually made to be heard when you’re outside,” Harrington said.
The agency wants the ability to send mass notification alerts through Facebook and Twitter, in addition to the telephone, text messages and email. With the upgrades, the system could also be activated for road closures and other advisories.
The system currently has 1,200 registered users, Harrington said.
Montgomery County’s Community Emergency Response Team also received money from the state for equipment and supplies. The funds will be used to purchase an all-terrain vehicle and new radios.
