New warning sirens added in Kanawha County

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Kanawha County is adding two new warning sirens to its arsenal to help warn the public about impending emergencies like tornados, extremely severe thunderstorms, and severe flooding.

Hayli Myers lives across the street from a new siren in Pinch, West Virginia.

She said the siren is a welcome return for the community as they’ve dealt with natural disasters.

“We had a tornado hit here a couple years ago and I think it would be useful, especially with the fact that it’s for safety reasons,” Myers said. “I think it just adds a little more comfort to our area.”

Pinch isn’t the only community getting a new siren, Tornado is getting one as well.

Emergency Manager for Kanawha County C.W. Sigman said these two locations were chosen for sirens because they are some of the highest populations in Kanawha County without them.

“These more compact areas particularly for those close to streams at the point of flooding, this kind of gives us extra protection,” he said.

Both sirens will be tested for the first time Wednesday at noon and will continue to be tested on the fourth Wednesday of the month with the rest of the sirens in the county.