Counties get grant for area-wide warning system

Oct. 13- Area residents will have another way to be warned of impending dangerous weather or other hazards by the end of the year, according to the Hardin County Emergency Management Agency.

Hardin, McNairy and five other surrounding West Tennessee counties are sharing equally a $250,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish an “Alert FM” system.

The system can broadcast weather, Amber, Homeland Security or other alerts to relatively inexpensive wall-mounted or pager-sized portable units, Hardin County EMA Assistant Director Marilyn White said Monday.

The alerts are transmitted by participating FM stations in the seven-county region and can even be tailored to reach specific groups such as first responders, she said. White said the NOAA grant includes 198 portable receivers and three wall units.

One or more local retailers is expected to offer the receivers for sale to the general public at a cost of around $40 for the portable and $300 for the wall unit.
One of the most attractive features of the system is that there are no recurring costs to the taxpayers once the system is up and running, White said.