Two storm sirens down in Polk County

POLK COUNTY, Mo. — Two storm shelters in Polk County failed to sound during the storms overnight Monday. As severe storms moved through the Ozarks today, both are still not working. One is in Fair Play and the other is in Bolivar.

“We’ve had problems with it the last couple of years and this time it fried the computer,” Polk County Emergency Management Director Rick Davis said.

A rare act of nature is what damaged Fair Play’s siren. It’s something Davis had never seen before.

“There was a red bolt [of] lightning in that area,” Davis said. “The lightning was so bad that [Monday overnight]. We had so many possible storms coming in and they told me that storm siren didn’t work. As I pushed the button, smoke started pouring out of it.”

The siren was completely fried from the inside out.

“If things are fried like this one is we’re looking at, I’m leaving that up to fair play,” Davis said. “Let them make the decision on what they want to do. If they want to fix it or get a new one.”

Over in Bolivar, the storm siren on the southwest side of town malfunctioned Monday overnight.

“Sirens are just like any computer,” Bolivar Fire Chief Brent Watkins said. “One day it’s working and the next minute you open the window, we get the blue screen of death.”

Watkins said the city tests the storm sirens – which were upgraded in 2018 – every month. The siren on the southwest side was tested last month. Watkins said it worked appropriately.

“Something in the siren computer wasn’t working [Monday overnight],” Watkins said, “We’ve reached out to our vendor and with the storms they’re busy but they’re working as soon as they can to get it repaired.”

Watkins said families can still get alerts when severe weather hits.

“We also provide RAVE alert and that’s provided by the city and you can go online and sign up,” Watkins said. “You can also download the app called Smart 911. You can put what phone numbers you want.”

Watkins stresses the importance of downloading these apps, as the outdoor sirens are not loud enough for all families in the area to hear them indoors.

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