Sirens: System may be replaced
Inspection test planned Thursday
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) officials admit the warning system sirens for Blue Ridge Dam “can’t be heard by everybody who needs to hear them.”
Husein Hasan made that statement last week during a meeting that included Fannin County Commission Chairman Jamie Hensley and Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Patrick Cooke. Hasan is the Dam Safety engineering manager for the Blue Ridge Project.
Hasan said TVA is working to correct the problem, possibly going as far as replacing the entire system.
Part of that work will take place tomorrow, Thursday, May 8, when TVA will be doing maintenance and inspection on the current system and testing the sirens to see if their efficiency can be improved.
Sirens will be tested between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Hasan said there were unknowns when the system was put in. The system was “intended to cover no more than a mile,” Hasan said, but terrain has a lot to do with its efficiency.
For the last two years, TVA says it has been hearing concerns the system does not work.
Chris Saucier, TVA senior project manager for Dam Safety, said he met with Davey Ensley, McCaysville Water Department manager, who voiced concern over the sirens not being heard. One siren is located at the Toccoa River Park, which is within yards of downtown McCaysville.
Following the work May 8, TVA will conduct the annual, formal siren test June 25.
If the problem has not been fixed, discussion may focus on replacing the entire system.
Hensley asked about adding safety features to homes, such as warning radios. Cooke asked about receiving information so EMA could do some proactive training to determine “what we do in the event of a catastrophe.”
Saucier said TVA has learned warning radios are not effective, and working on the siren system is preferred.
He and Cooke discussed the possibility of using Fannin’s emergency alert system, Hyper-Reach, which uses cell phone service.
Cooke said there might be some locations midway between the dam and McCaysville that do not have good cell service, but the system would be an option.
EMA has maps that show the extent of a catastrophic dam failure.
Cooke and Ensley talked about using those, which include roads that would become impassable, to determine shelter locations and how to reach affected areas.