MACE — A new weather siren will warn Mace residents when a tornado is coming.
The siren is being installed Feb. 19, weather permitting, at the shelter house next to Mace United Methodist Church.
“It should be operational that day,” Montgomery County Emergency Management director Shari Harrington said.
Plans for the siren began after a tornado ripped through the Mace and Linnsburg areas in August 2016. The southeastern corridor along U.S. 136 is a common path for twisters.
The county’s network of about two-dozen sirens is activated when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for the area. The sirens are only intended to warn people outdoors of threatening weather conditions.
More than 17,500 people have signed up for the county’s mass-notification system, which sends weather alerts via telephone, text message or e-mail. Residents can sign up for the free service through the county’s website at www.montgomerycounty.in.gov.
The siren and electrical hook-up was funded by a grant from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. Duke Energy donated the siren’s pole.
Another siren is planned for East Wabash Avenue near Woodlawn Place and the EMA will replace broken sirens, including one at New Hope Christian Church.
