Tornado Sirens Test Planned Monday in St. Louis County

Tornado sirens are expected to go off Monday throughout St. Louis County as part of a systemwide test. The drill happens at 11 a.m.

The county recently overhauled its network of sirens, and all but two of 185 have been installed, said David Barney, executive director for the St. Louis County Emergency Communications Commission. The system costs $7.5 million and is controlled from two locations, one in and the other in Chesterfield.

The new system expands service to western and southern parts of the county that didn't previously have sirens, he said. Additionally, some of the county's older sirens dated back to the 1960s and featured a rotating mechanical horn that was prone to break. Commercial power supported the sirens in the past, meaning the siren would be rendered unusable if a big storm came through the county.

The new sirens are composed of 10 speakers stacked one on top of the other; are solar-powered; and can be used to make a public address to a select part of the county when, for example, a boil water alert is issued.

An emergency communications sales tax that voters approved in 2009 funded the project, a county news release states. TBG served as the contractor.

“This is a program that could very well literally save lives,” County Executive Charlie Dooley stated in the release.

Most of the sirens that made up the old network will be taken down by the end of the year, Barney said.

There are two sirens throughout the Florissant area as well as surronding Florissant in the 63031 and 63033 zip codes, including:

• 1830 Charbonier
• 4302 Charbonier
• Wiethaupt, 660 west of Patterson
• Kingsford at Shackelford
• Bangert Park
• Humes, east of Gardenia
• Rolling Hills Drive
• Partridge Run Drive
• Cougar Drive
• Derhake Drive at Dunengant Park
• 13605 New Halls Ferry

Those interested in finding sirens in their ZIP code may go to St. Louis County's website. It has been updated to reflect the newly installed sirens, Barney said.

*Correction: The article originally listed the addresses of sirens included in the older system. We apologize for the error.