The benevolence of a neighboring county will likely result in greater safety for Jefferson County residents when dangerous weather is moving in.

At the request of Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Coker and Deputy Director Chris Tate, the Jefferson County Commission approved funds for the installation of at least 19 tornado sirens that were given to Jefferson County by Shelby County.

Coker and Tate said several Shelby County municipalities shifted to new weather warning systems and made their sirens available to Jefferson County.

“Since 2011, including 2011, this county’s been hit with 30 tornadoes,” Coker told the commission. “In the last 10 years, we’ve had 19 tornadoes hit this county. The commission has been providing funding for storm shelters but one thing you need before we need a storm shelter is the knowledge that you need to go to a shelter or seek shelter.

“We had an opportunity come up through Shelby County to be given tornado sirens, the same type that we currently use,” the EMA director said. “If you went out and you had to purchase a new siren, including installation, you’re looking at about $25,000.”

Jefferson County will receive about 25 sirens. Nineteen of those sirens will be placed in the five commission districts throughout the county. “That will help warn the public,” Coker said. “The others we’ll use for parts to maintain the ones that we already have.”

Coker talked about the need to have “multiple warning tools in your toolbox. This is one of the tools in the toolbox.”

The EMA director cited the tornado that struck Fultondale in January 2021. On that occasion, two of the tools for warning citizens failed. That storm was especially frightening, he said, it was at 10:30 at night when it can be hard to see the approaching danger. “The time from when it was really seen on radar until it was chewing up the city of Fultondale was eight minutes,” Coker said. “Your warning time is key.

“Weather radios did not work. Wireless Emergency Alerts did not work,” he said. “Those are both federal. But sirens and mass notifications did work. Our goal, as is yours, is the public’s safety.”

Tate said the discussion started as a question as some Shelby County cities are moving away from using tornado sirens.

“There was the question of, what are you going to do with those sirens?” the deputy EMA director said. “We’re always looking for an opportunity to bring something back to our citizens and our communities. That just kind of spilled over to additional questions to other municipalities and, of course, the county itself.

“So many of them said, if y’all want to take them, you can have them. I said, OK. Then it’s a matter of how do we afford it?”

Coker said Tate has done extensive research on where the new sirens should be installed. “They’re not just darts on a dartboard,” he said. “Because of our topography here, all of our hills, the range may not be the same for every siren on the audible side. A lot of work has been done to consider the best places.”