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Reminder to public: apply a layered safety approach in severe weather season

The City of Madison in cooperation with Dane County will install four, new outdoor sirens this summer. The expansion of the siren network will help keep the public safe during severe weather situations.  While the sirens are one way to keep families safe, the City and County would like to remind the public of a layered approach to safety, and not to rely on just one form of notification when severe weather impacts the area.

Safety layers include:

  • Sirens
  • NOAA All-Hazards Radio
  • Smart Phone Alerts
  • Telephone Notifications
  • Email, Social Media
  • Local broadcast Media
     

For more detailed information about each layer, visit the County’s website for descriptions on why each layer is something residents should apply to their emergency response plan for severe weather events. 

Plan for new outdoor sirens

Siren coverage in Madison is a cooperative effort between the City and the County. As of April 17, 2019, there were 55 sirens in Madison. Of those, the City owned 23 and the County owned 32.
In all, there are 136 sirens in the city and county, owned by city, county and other jurisdictions across the county.

The four new sirens are scheduled to be installed by late June 2019 at the following locations:

1. Near the new water tower located at 10451 Old Sauk Road
2. In City of Madison greenway space on Autumn Lake Pkwy between Golden Dusk Pkwy and Levitan Lane
3. Northeast corner of the I-39/90/94 and State Highway 30 interchange, adjacent to the Little League baseball complex
4. Behind the new Fire Station on Dairy Drive

A first test will happen the first Wednesday in July. A second test will happen the first Wednesday in August.  Siren No. 1-3 will be added to cover new areas of development from the past three years. Siren No. 4 is being installed to improve coverage.
The siren system is a partnership between local jurisdictions (including the City) and the County. The County will operate and test the new sirens along with the rest of sirens as one, countywide system. Many of the sirens in the system are locally owned, but they are operated as a system.

The range a siren covers, locations of current sirens in the city and county can be found on the County‘s website.  

 

Contacts

  • Media inquiries: Hannah Mohelnitzky, City of Madison Public Information Officer, Engineering Div., 608-242-6003, hmohelnitzky@cityofmadison.com
  • Dave Janda, Assistant Director, Dane County Emergency Management , 608-266-4330

Agency: 
Engineering
Seasonal: 
Spring, Spring/Summer, Summer