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by Frank Vascellaro
(WCCO) Sirens are the sounds we equate with our worst storms, the ones that flourish in a sky that telltale shade of green. But when a tornado hit Siren, Wis. in June 2001, the city's siren never sounded.

"I've been an undercover officer. I've had guns put to my head and I was more scared in this tornado because you can't reason with Mother Nature," said Burnett County Sheriff Dean Rowland, who was Siren's police chief in 2001. "I actually watched buildings pulsate as the pressure changed, I watched roofs explode. I watched cars fly across the road. I saw everything around me. I mean, I was in the middle of the tornado."

The siren in Siren was broken, but even if it wasn't, it wouldn't have sounded. That's because the power was out, and the siren didn't have battery backup.

"I knew there was no way people were going to know," said Rowland, noting the city's current siren has battery backup. "It is viewed much more serious now than it was prior to that night."

Like Wisconsin, most counties in Minnesota have outdoor warning sirens. Many of them are outdated and many, even in the Twin Cities, won't sound if the power goes out.

"We sent a letter to all the city councils and said we should fix this," said a concerned Meeker County Sheriff Mike Hirman. "I'm not sure if it's a money thing, or if it's just not going to happen here."

Adding battery backup to a siren costs around $3,000, and installing a new siren hovers totals somewhere around $20,000.

The I-TEAM wanted to know what shape all Minnesota's sirens are in. Since most are tested once a month, we thought that would be easy. We asked for records and received a lot of mail, but not very many answers.

The I-TEAM found only 18 out of 87 counties keep records showing if sirens sound during tests. Furthermore, during actual storms, only one county is keeping track through a two-way system that reports back whether sirens went off: Olmsted.

"The advantage is public safety," said Sgt. John Turk of the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, who is in charge of the siren system for the county and says record-keeping is key. "We're trying to have a maintenance program to stay on top of it to keep everything working properly. History is important."

Many of the counties told the I-TEAM that, since cities own the sirens, it's their responsibility to keep track of them and fix them. So we asked the cities for their records as well. Most had none.

"It's a good idea to keep records on any system you have," said Dave Berrisford of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the State of Minnesota.

Berrisford said sirens are also part of Minnesota's Emergency Operations Plan, and that they could also be used to warn citizens in the event of a major disaster. Since the state doesn't know if all their sirens are actually working, he admitted "I think it wouldn't necessarily be practical at the state level."

Though there is no law requiring either cities or counties to keep records, Berrisford said they should know whether sirens are working.

Many communities said, records or not, they are confident their sirens are in working condition. In some towns, outside agencies check the sirens every week.

Cities such as Eagan go even further to get storm warnings out. Eagan uses an emergency notification system which can call all the city's residents in about 20 minutes to tell them severe weather is approaching.

"A big peace of mind, as I said, is to have the ability to make notification in a very quick manner," said Eagan Police Chief James McDonald.

Still, the I-TEAM found many other Minnesota communities have much further to go. For instance, if you're headed north to Lutsen or Bluefin Bay, you won't hear a siren while hiking or fishing.

That's because Cook County doesn't have a single siren, which surprised Berrisford.

"We'd certainly like to see every county have sirens," he said.

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