Press Release
Courthouse
Sumter County, Georgia
Monday, January 13, 2014
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) informed Sumter County EMA Director, Bill Twomey, today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had issued its approval on the expanded Outdoor Warning Sirens System for which Sumter County was awarded a grant.
In the last few months, work has been completed on two “Tornado Safe Rooms” that can temporarily house citizens if tornados threaten the community. Now that Sumter County has been given the “go ahead” to complete the Sirens Warning System, that project is expected to be completed before July 1, 2014.
It will be important to develop an exercise wherein the Sirens System is activated as a test. Sumter County EMA hopes to be able to test the operations of the two Tornado Safe Rooms in conjunction with the testing of the Sirens.
Newly appointed EMA Director, Nigel Poole, will begin the final phase of the installation and activation of the Outdoor Warning Siren system. Once it is in place and preliminary testing occurs, there will be a public exercise developed so that Sirens can be activated to direct citizens toward the Safe Rooms.