Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton A test of the county’s tornado sirens is set for April 10 at 10 a.m. The tornado siren in downtown Warren on the Flat Iron Building, seen here, is technology from World War II.

Public safety officials will be testing the county’s tornado siren system on April 10 at 10 a.m.

The test is part of a broader county weather exercise.

And it’s also a good time to reflect on what you would do in the event of the real thing.

Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison said that the sirens will be touched off at 10 a.m. and that there will be a maintenance window open until 1 p.m. for any that doesn’t sound at 10 a.m.

The test is part of a broader weather exercise in conjunction with the Warren County School District, timed to occur, McCorriso said, before “severe weather season gets in full swing.”

“We would just charge the public and local business to think about what you would do,” he said, if you were at a location at the time of the text. “It’s a good time to think about what you would do and where you would go.”

While the sirens will alert many – if not the majority – of county residents, they don’t cover everyone.

McCorrison said it was “never the intention” for the sirens “to be the sole alerter of the public.”

So what other options are there?

McCorrison encouraged people to have access to a “trusted media” source on the phones or sign up for alerts through the state at prdready.pwpca.pa.gov.

For those in rural areas without cell service, he advised NOAA weather radios, which can be purchased online for between $30 and $50.

“The National Weather Service continually broadcasts weather information,” he said, and the NWS can alert the weather radios “similar to a pager. It makes a noise comparable to a fire or smoke alarm. There is no missing it.”

While the county’s 911 center can touch off the sirens, they don’t operate the system. Each siren is the responsibility of its municipality.

“The one on the Flat Iron Building (in downtown Warren) is a World War II siren,” McCorrison said. The design is simple – a horn, air compressor and rotator.

“There’s not much that can go wrong with it,” he said. “It’s effective and it’s in the right place in the downtown area of Warren.”

He said other locations in and around Warren were surveyed but the sound patterns didn’t make sense relative to the cost.

The decision to add more sirens is a “municipal decision,” McCorrosin said. “It’s just not cheap.”