The importance of Hazard Mitigation Plan five year updates has taken on a whole new meaning for communities within Cooper County in 2017. The last hazard mitigation plan for Cooper County was finalized in 2012. In the process of evaluating past risk assessments and developing new mitigation strategies for this year’s update, the city of Bunceton, MO attracted attention on the warning siren map.

As shown on the inserted map, the City of Bunceton hasn’t had a working warning siren for its 354 citizens within the community in 5 years. It was learned in the recent updating process that the warning siren had caught fire when test activated. For safety reasons the warning siren was dismantled and has been deemed as inoperable ever since. It was cost prohibitive for the City of Bunceton to acquire a new warning siren at that time.

City of Bunceton old warning siren.There have been recent discussions with Travis Zimmerman, USDA Rural Development Area Specialist, about funding for warning sirens. It is an option to apply for USDA Rural Development community facility grant and/or low-interest loan programs to obtain funds for projects, such as warning sirens. Since warning siren funding discussions with USDA Rural Development and cost discussions with multiple warning siren suppliers have taken place in recent Cooper County hazard mitigation meetings, it has become apparent that Bunceton is not alone. There are now four communities in Cooper County, including: Bunceton, Pilot Grove, Windsor Place, and Wooldridge potentially interested in either replacing, updating, or for two of the communities (Windsor Place and Wooldridge) acquiring the community’s first-ever warning siren. As shown below, the City of Pilot Grove currently has a warning siren that is approximately 50 years old and they soon hope to have it replaced, along with possibly adding a second warning siren for the city.

City of Pilot Grove old warning siren.

Six planning meetings have taken place so far to update the Cooper County hazard mitigation plan that is due to be completed per FEMA by June 2017. Adjacent with hazard mitigation plan updates, the potential Cooper County warning siren projects are still a work in progress and have been added as a new mitigation strategy goal for the updated plan. The Cooper County hazard mitigation plan updates have been possible with the help of city, county, school district, and levee district officials. The next Cooper County Hazard Mitigation Planning Meeting will be held at the Emergency Operations Center in Boonville, MO on March 15, 2017.