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Linn County declares state and local disaster after weekend tornadoes; leaders call for better emergency communications
Summary
The Linn County Board of Commissioners approved Resolution 2026-10 declaring a state and local disaster to allow the county to pursue state and federal reimbursements after last week’s tornadoes and discussed gaps in emergency communications, storm‑siren responsibilities and plans for an after‑action review with law‑enforcement and emergency‑management officials.
The Linn County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Resolution 2026‑10, a proclamation of state and local disaster, to enable the county to apply for state and federal reimbursement for damage from recent tornadoes.
Emergency manager Randy Hegel told the board the proclamation would allow Linn County to “apply for state and federal reimbursement from the tornadoes” and summarized storm damage checks to county radio towers and the Justice Center roof. Commissioners followed with a voice vote to adopt the resolution.
Hegel and commissioners then spent an extended period reviewing notification procedures and response coordination. Hegel said the county owns a single outdoor siren (located in Centerville) and explained that most other sirens are owned and operated by individual municipalities; municipal officials can trigger their own devices, and county dispatch can activate sirens to notify agencies across the radio frequency. He urged residents to sign up for Everbridge and other phone‑based alerts and said staff had posted a QR code to the county Facebook page for that purpose.
Commissioners expressed frustration with post‑storm communication and coordination. One commissioner said the board had not received timely briefings during the response, and suggested convening the sheriff, emergency management, department heads and representatives from the American Red Cross and other partners for an after‑action review so officials understand how to communicate with the public during future events.
Hegel acknowledged limits in siren runtime and battery capacity — sirens are designed to run three to five minutes to avoid damaging amplifiers — and recommended parallel notification channels (mobile alerts, social media and NOAA weather radios) because outdoor sirens may not reach people indoors or those away from the roadway.
The board directed staff to circulate the ISO (insurance service) and after‑action materials, continue outreach about Everbridge signups, and schedule a follow‑up meeting with department heads and public‑safety partners to identify communications improvements and responsibilities.
The commission’s action makes the county eligible to pursue reimbursements; the next procedural steps are submittal of claims and coordination with state and federal grant or disaster‑recovery programs.
