Mt. Vernon Register-News

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December 30, 2009

Dix installing tornado warning system

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

DIX — Residents will be hearing an unfamiliar sound next month — the testing of the village’s first tornado warning system.

For the past three months the village has been installing the system and expects to have it up and running in two weeks. Severe storms in the past few years prompted the village to purchase the warning system.

“We decided to install the tornado system mostly for the well being and safety of the residents of Dix and the surrounding area,” said Village Trustee Leo Pijut. “We’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

The system — estimated at $20,000 — includes the siren warning system and will operate in conjunction with the Jefferson Fire Protection District warning system.

“Tying it in to our system will be a good thing because we can tone out everyone in the county,” said JFPD Chief Mike Huntman. “We want to establish to the people that when you hear the siren, you need to take shelter. That’s why we do warnings, not just alerts. We want people to be safe.”

Prior to including Dix, JFPD tones out tornado warnings for Bonnie, Ina and Rend Lake College.

“So when they set off the warning, we’ll be able to hear it now,” Pijut said, adding that despite the cost, if the system will “save one life, it’s worth it.”

According to resources from the Jefferson County Emergency Operation Plan, the Dix area was hit with thunderstorm winds in August 1995, May and June 1998, and August 2001. Hail was recorded on two different occasions in April 2002, and more thunderstorm winds were recorded in the area on June 10, 2003. On March 8, 2009, an F1 tornado was recorded in the Texico area, east of Dix.

The warning system will be activated if a tornado is sighted or known to be in the area, information states. Once installation is complete and the tornado system is operational, testing will occur on the first Tuesday of the month.

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