Weather permitting, a follow-up citywide test of Hot Springs' emergency weather siren network will take place at noon Tuesday, a prelude to what will become a weekly test of the siren network on Wednesdays.
The new test was prompted by "the need to further evaluate the tones emitted" from the city's 11 siren sites during a test last Wednesday, the city said in a news release. City employees will be stationed at each site to assess each of the follow-up test's phases.
Denny McPhate, Hot Springs Public Works director, told The Sentinel-Record that, while listening to last Wednesday's siren test, he and the deputy city manager noticed that the sirens they monitored did not emit all three tones necessary for a successful sounding.
"There's a buzz, there's a voice and then there's a wail," McPhate said, describing the siren's sounds. "We got two of the three; didn't get the third one."
According to the news release, at noon Tuesday, an air horn will be sounded four times The air horn will be followed by a voice message announcing that it is only a test; a wail lasting over a minute; a another voice message with the same announcement; and another wail. The cycle may be repeated twice, and will be followed by an "All clear, emergency's over" message after its completion.
The test is expected to last three to seven minutes.
A weekly test of the emergency system is set to begin at the same time the next day. McPhate said that unlike past siren tests that have taken place at noon on Wednesdays, the one scheduled to begin this week will accurately replicate the sound that the city will hear during an emergency.
"The goal is to familiarize all residents with the sounds they will hear in the event of an actual threat to public safety," McPhate said in the release. "Other cities like Little Rock do this so that their residents know if they hear those sounds at any other time than Wednesday noon, there is a true emergency."
McPhate said that the city had been testing its siren using "Westminster chimes" every Wednesday at noon prior to its decision to test the emergency network at that time. He said that "most people" who spoke to him about the siren -- and especially tourists -- thought that it was actually church bells.
"They don't know that it's a weather warning sound," McPhate said. "If they hear the Westminster chime, I'm not sure they're gonna know that it's a tornado warning system."
McPhate told The Sentinel-Record that, unlike past siren tests that have taken place at noon on Wednesdays, the one scheduled to begin this week will accurately replicate the sound that the city will hear during an emergency.
"We want our citizens to get used to our weather warning sound," McPhate said. "(We want them to) know that if they don't hear it at noon on Wednesday, they'd better check into something, because it's probably something legit."
The release said city employees will be stationed at each siren site on Tuesday to document each phase of the test. Representatives from the siren provider and the radio provider will also attend the test.
The sirens are located at Hill Wheatley Plaza, Arlington Hotel & Spa, Ozark Street, Weyerhaeuser, Holly Street, Linwood Street, Crescent Street, Water Street, Bell Alley, Molly Springs and Lakeshore Road.
The release said the sound radius of each siren varies, depending on the number of siren heads attached. The height of each siren location, as well as wind direction and velocity, can also effect their range.
The release notes that the existing sirens cover about 58 percent of the city. The city has installed about two sirens a year since 2013. By the end of this year, 13 sirens will be operational. Six more will be installed over the next three years to complete city coverage with a total of 19 sirens.
"If you live more than one mile east of Malvern Avenue, from Grand to Golf Links, you may not hear a siren," McPhate said in the release. "Likewise, if you live south of the expressway, except for a mile radius from the Lakeshore Drive/Panama Street intersection, you may not hear one. Sirens have yet to be installed to cover these locations."
Local on 06/11/2017