GREENBUSH — The Town of Greenbush in Sheboygan County will no longer hear its weekly tornado siren tests because the broken system won’t be fixed.
Resident Karen Bower moved to Greenbush for peace and quiet, but she felt comforted by the siren noise on Wednesday at noon, an extra safety net in her mind.
Before I knocked on her door, she had no idea that it was not going to be repaired.
"I'm very upset. I think it's very important to have a tornado warning,” Bower said.
In October, the town board initially approved a request for the siren repairs at a cost of about $4,300.
In the next meeting, the quote jumped to nearly $10,000. Chairman John Halbach said he couldn’t justify the cost.
"We'll put that money to good use elsewhere,” like a new fire engine, he offered.
Halbach suggested that residents keep up with alerts on smartphones rather than sirens.
"They're probably going to be retired anyway because of upcoming technology.”
Watch: Greenbush won’t repair its tornado siren, residents express concern
"I'm 70 years old,” Bower noted. “I don't do all this phone stuff and computer stuff."
Her 72-year-old neighbor Charlene Becker has lived in Greenbush for more than four decades.
She doesn’t consider herself tech-savvy either.
"I relied on [the siren],” Becker said. “Us as taxpayers, we should have something like that in town.”
So, is stopping the sirens legal?
I reached out to the Wisconsin Emergency Management Department for an answer.
The Public Information Officer told me that the maintenance and sounding of the sirens are not required by law. It’s up to each city and municipality.
I also called a few other towns and villages in Sheboygan County.
Those conversations revealed Elkhart Lake, Howards Grove, Glenbeulah and Oostburg have at least one working siren or have replaced their sirens in the last few years.
Halbach says the Greenbush siren could only be heard in about a quarter of the town.
It's important to note that sirens are meant to warn those outside, not those already in their homes.
Bower still feels uneasy without one.
"Maybe I'll sell my house, go somewhere else where they will warn you anyway," she said.
Halbach encourages anyone to contact the board with more questions and solutions.
"When something is really needed, it always seems to find a way to be taken care of," Becker said.
The Wisconsin Emergency Management Department says it's important to have more than one way to keep up with severe weather:
- Enable wireless emergency alerts on your phone
- Turn on NOAA weather radio
- Notify family and friends.
You can also keep up with the NBC 26 weather team on-air, online, or on socials.
