“S” forwards this announcement from Assistant City Manager Tony Parker…

The City of Decatur will test the new Tornado Outdoor Warning Siren system for installation purposes on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 12 noon. The test will last approximately two minutes.

The first official monthly testing of the system will be held on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 5 p.m. If there is inclement weather that day, the test will be postponed until Thursday, February 4 at 5 p.m.

Going forward the system will be tested on the first Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. The sirens will sound for approximately one minute during each testing.

If you have questions about this or other Emergency Management issues, please contact Tony Parker, Assistant City Manager, Emergency Services, tony.parker@decaturga.com or call 404-370-4102.

There’s already been some discussion of this on-going installation in the Free-For-All Friday comments, but here’s a bit more detail about the location of these new, city-run tornado sirens.  From the Decatur Minute…

There is a siren for each quadrant of the City. In addition to the one located on Agnes Scott’s campus, the others are located at Westchester, Oakhurst Elementary, Winnona Park Elementary, and Glennwood Academy. In the event that the National Weather Services issues a tornado warning for the Decatur area, the Decatur Police Communications Center will sound the siren for three to five minutes per issued warning. During the sounding, the siren head will rotate.

The City will conduct a test of the system at 3 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month.