Proposals for storm sirens in three Texas County communities were among eight in southern Missouri to receive approval from Gov. Jay Nixon to move forward.
Outdoor warning sirens in Cabool, Licking and Summersville would be part of more than $5.1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant funds for projects; the FEMA program provides 75 percent of the funding for approved projects, and local grant recipients pay the remaining 25 percent of the costs.
Six of the eight projects were safe room proposals. The other two were for outdoor warning sirens. Shannon County proposed them in Birch Tree and Eminence.
Missouri has 168 completed safe rooms across the state. Since Nixon took office, he has approved or Missouri has moved forward with 188 community safe room projects, with 123 of those projects in schools. The completed projects and those being designed or constructed would be capable of protecting more than 210,000 Missourians in severe weather.
Nixon said the state of Missouri has created the Storm Aware website –– stormaware.mo.gov –– to show the public how to protect themselves from tornadoes in specific types of structures. The site contains videos focused on buildings with and without basements, mobile homes, and schools, as well as videos on flash flooding safety, tornado sirens and weather alert radios.