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Page County emergency manager outlines year of storms, siren and radio upgrades
Summary
Joel Harvey gave a year-in-review of storms, fires and training, highlighted an EF‑1 tornado in Essex, described a hazmat cleanup paid by the responsible party, and said siren and base radio upgrades (installation ~ $13,000; ~$5,400 per siren) and grant applications are priorities.
Joel Harvey, Page County emergency manager, told the meeting that 2025 brought multiple field fires, an EF‑1 tornado in Essex on April 17 that impacted Pierce Creek, several house fires and a hazardous-material truck accident that required a week of environmental testing.
Harvey said the county worked with Red Cross on feeding cleanup crews after the tornado and that many affected residents used private insurance for recovery. He described regional training and exercises — including severe weather spotting with Fremont County, multi‑casualty drills with schools and hospitals, and attendance at regional emergency-management conferences — as central to preparedness.
Harvey outlined urgent communications needs. "It's like to the radio and installation is about $13,000," he said, describing the estimated cost to replace a base radio at a tower that supports siren activation. He added that updating individual sirens can run about $5,400 each and noted some county radios have not had firmware updates since 2018, creating maintenance and compatibility challenges.
Harvey said ESI, the contracted hazmat responder, led cleanup and testing after the October truck accident that released materials into East Tarkio Creek and that the responsible party paid for the remediation. He also discussed school-safety work: staff completed a security assessment and one school received an emergency-alert radio system with a panic button.
On funding, Harvey said the county will pursue available grants (he cited a Southwest Iowa program and Iowa West/foundation grants) and intends to include a base radio in the upcoming budget. He noted the Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) remains important for salary support and that the 2026 application window is open.
Harvey encouraged cross-county coordination for specialized assets: Brian Hammond and Fremont County can provide drone support, and Harvey said he is pursuing drone licensure and wants multiple local pilots trained. He closed by reminding officials of upcoming siren testing (March–October) and scheduled trainings, including a March 19 storm-spotter class in Shenandoah.
Harvey said he does not advise relying solely on sirens for public warning, but stressed their importance: "If our sirens don't work, you know, which I don't I don't encourage anyone to rely just on sirens, but, you know, it is a pretty significant part of our warning system, so we'll keep working on that." The county intends to pursue grants and budget options before storm season.
