Solar Powered Tornado Sirens

 Pulaski County Installs First Solar-Powered Tornado Siren

Photo from: The Arkansas Times

Most Arkansas residents know about the recent traumatic event that happened just a few weeks ago. Little Rock and Wynne, Arkansas were recently hit by a EF3 tornado on March 31st, of the current year. Could these towns have been more prepared if they would have had another system to use to alert them of the incoming tornado. 

Up until the week of April 12th, Arkansas’s tornado sirens have religiously relied on electricity to alert towns of incoming tornados. Until recently there was not much of an option for tornado sirens to receive their power. Not that the system we had before was hurting us more than it was helping, but there are not better ways to power tornado sirens.

Pulaski County Office of Emergency Management installed the first solar-powered tornado siren. This means that they now do not have to worry about how to alert their tight-knit society when normal electricity is not available. This is a great way to become more energy efficient as well as saving Pulaski County two-hundred and fifty dollars a year. Imagine if we could replace all electric tornado sirens with the solar panel powered sirens. 

After reading this post, I felt inspired to try to persuade my local counties to invest in the solar powered sirens. I hope that my insight inspires others to persuade there county to invest in the energy efficient, money saving, longer lasting tornado sirens.