Denver's Emergency Sirens Now Reach More People Than Ever

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver is heading into the time of year when residents need to be prepared for severe weather -- from funnel clouds to tornadoes. The city wants to make sure people hear warnings and tested out sirens on Wednesday.

Dozens of tests happened throughout the day.

There are 86 sirens around Denver. Officials with the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security say they test them at least once a year. When they sound the alarms hopefully everyone hears them.

CBS4 previously reported about people on the 16th Street Mall saying they hadn't heard the sirens just after they had sounded. Officials said there were coverage issues, but the new sirens will reach 88 percent of Denver. The other 12 percent is the empty land by Denver International Airport.

Carolyn Bluhm with the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security says in real life scenarios the public should not only get inside, but turn on the TV for media coverage of what natural disaster they might be facing.

"We make sure that we've tried to hit everyone to know that there is a tornado coming and they have to take shelter," Bluhm said. "They will go ahead and go inside and try to get to the lowest part of the house, into a safe room so they will stay safe."

The sirens are solar powered, so even if there's a major power outage the sirens will still sound.