Iroquois County EMA director to issue directive after county sirens did not activate during tornado warnings

Scott Anderson, the county emergency management official, told the Iroquois County Board on April 3 that he will issue a directive ordering ICOM to activate outdoor warning sirens automatically when the National Weather Service issues tornado warnings.

Anderson said the county experienced multiple severe-weather events in March and late March and that during the most recent warnings ICOM did not activate sirens in some areas. "ICOM is not activating sirens based on the National Weather Service's tornado warnings," he said, calling the situation "unacceptable." He said he personally authorized siren activation for Sisseton Park, Woodland, Milford and Wonseeah but that the authorizations came late.

The nut of Anderson's message to the board and staff was twofold: restore an automatic siren activation practice tied to NWS tornado warnings, and improve public alerting tools. He said HyperReach notifications are issued automatically when the National Weather Service posts warnings but noted that HyperReach is opt-in for residents and that parameters were changed during a vendor administration transition. Anderson also described federal alert options: a move to integrate HyperReach with the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (iPAWS) would require a memorandum of understanding and administrative approvals but would add radio and television distribution.

In discussion, Anderson described operational problems that contributed to missed or partial alerts: a reported siren failure on the west side of Waseca that cut a warning short, and a county policy change made by a predecessor that limited automatic siren activation. He said the current authorization structure names a limited set of officials who may request sirens — himself, fire chiefs, police chiefs and mayors — but he argued that an NWS-issued tornado warning should trigger siren activation without further discretionary delay. "Every second counts when there's a tornado warning," Anderson said.

Anderson said he will document the change in a written directive and deliver it to county telecommunicator Raymond personally if needed. He also discussed other steps he is pursuing: refining county HyperReach parameters to avoid over-notification of watches (to reduce opt-outs), seeking iPAWS enrollment, and tailoring the county emergency operations plan to Iroquois County in light of a new state administrative rule that changed the reaccreditation timeline. He told the board the state rule extended deadlines; reaccreditation materials were delayed pending the rule and are now due in June.

Anderson raised equipment and operations needs tied to storm response: requests for a county drone and a dedicated camera for damage assessment, all-weather gear for volunteers, and a handheld anemometer. He said these purchases would come from his existing EMA budget and that he was not asking the board for additional funds at this meeting.

Board members indicated broad support for Anderson's position. Anderson said he already had discussed the issue with the board chairman and requested the board's backing for the directive. He also described plans to provide more public information about HyperReach subscription steps and to post updates on the county EMA page.

The discussion produced no recorded board motion or vote; Anderson said the directive will be issued by his office and provided to county staff and ICOM.