Litchfield Township will stop using tornado sirens

LITCHFIELD TWP., Ohio – In the Medina County community of Litchfield, the seven tornado sirens will no longer be used in late August.

The municipality said the reason was budget concerns. Recently, three of the sirens stopped working. The cost of repairing a single siren was estimated at nearly $30,000.

According to trustee Michael Pope, these costs are simply too high for the community, so it must rely more on modern technology.

“With the technology we have,” he said, “we thought this would be a better way, because most people have a cell phone in their pocket or at home that they could get a notification from.”

Pope also said the sirens do not reach the majority of the community. About 25 percent of community residents can hear the sirens in their homes, meaning they do not reach three-quarters of the population.

This, along with some inaccuracies in the sirens, led the municipality to decide that telephones might be a better solution.

“We are simply trying to find a better way to keep our citizens safe while saving taxpayers’ money.”

Nevertheless, some citizens want the sirens to remain.

“I understand that all of this costs money,” said resident Kelton Keller. “It’s a pretty big safety issue, especially after what just happened.”

Keller fears what the lack of tornado sirens would mean for Litchfield’s elderly and agricultural population. He said many older people don’t have the technical savvy to sign up for weather warnings. Farmers, on the other hand, are more likely to hear a tornado siren when they’re in the field.

“Phones are definitely there,” he said. “But a siren is pretty damn loud. Often times you have your phone with you, but it could be somewhere else. You don’t hear it go off. You hear the siren go off and look at your phone and see what’s going on.”

Citizens are now encouraged to sign up for alerts from the Medina County EMA. These alerts can be sent via text message, voice message or email.

Pope said he understands the concerns of citizens like Keller, but he believes turning off the sirens is a good move for everyone involved.

“We’re just trying to do the best for the whole community,” he said.

Click here to sign up for Medina County EMA alerts.