Chickamauga to test its new tornado siren

Chickamauga will test its new inclement weather (tornado) siren on Saturday, Feb. 26, City Manager Micheal Haney said.

The test, which will begin at noon, will last a full three minutes, Haney said. The city’s Police Department will then manually test it once a month with a short burst on the first Saturday of each month, he said.

“This siren,” Haney said, “is a much-needed replacement from the older Chickamauga fire house siren that was located a top of the Chickamauga City School Central Office building. The new siren will be remotely set off by the Walker County 911 Center when a tornado warning is issued in or in the immediate area of the city. It will be capable of reaching a much further range and will be more beneficial to a larger portion of the city and surrounding

Walker County.”

“The old siren required the onduty officer to drive to the location and set off the siren, and now with the ability of Walker County 911 to set off the siren, it is a huge advantage to the citizens because the 911 Center is constantly tracking bad weather,” he said. “This is a much-needed and great emergency response system for the city and its citizens and hopefully if ever needed it will save lives in the event of a tornado.”

The City Council approved the proposed purchase of the inclement weather (tornado) warning siren in early 2021, Haney said.

“After some shipping delays, construction and with a few minor setbacks during the installation and programming, the siren is in place and ready for use,” he said.