This Time, Residents Take Siren in Stride

Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were nervous during Wednesday’s lunchtime test of the Casitas Dam siren system.

Some people listened to the prerecorded warning. Others yawned. No one panicked. Authorities were pleased.

“I’m glad,” bureau representative Marian Echeverria said. “Everyone seems to know about it.”

It was a much better outcome than the pandemonium that followed a botched test of the $300,000 warning system Jan. 29. Wailing sirens that ran too long and garbled messages sent scores of frightened residents fleeing to higher ground.

To ensure that residents along the flood path knew about this week’s test, Echeverria and other bureau employees spent the last month blanketing the west side of town with $15,000 worth of informational fliers, refrigerator magnets and T-shirts.

Residents’ relative lack of interest during the noon test meant the bureau’s efforts paid off, Echeverria said. As she staffed an information table in front of Vons on West Main Street on Wednesday morning, most people asked her for the bright blue Casitas Dam T-shirts she was giving away. Few asked about the siren tests. A very good sign, she said.

The siren system will be tested at noon on the second Wednesday of each January, April, July and October. The siren system is part of a $40-million upgrade to the 45-year-old dam.