Flood alert sirens given a blast to test volumes
A SOUND the people of the Brisbane Valley never hope to hear again was played yesterday.
The Somerset Regional Council's flood siren was tested in Fernvale and Lowood yesterday.
The Fernvale siren is located on Schmidt Rd while Lowood's is on Lindemans Rd. From 9am through to midday yesterday multiple alarms were heard in the towns.
While yesterday's testing was at a lower volume than it would be played in a real emergency today will see full volume tests in Fernvale and Lowood.
The first siren test will be activated from the Fernvale site at 6pm with the Lowood test to be held at 6.30pm.
Both will last about 30 seconds.
According to the Somerset council the system's gauging stations have been built with multiple levels of redundancy to ensure if one piece of equipment fails there will be a back-up.
The Flood Warning System has been built by Greenspan Technologies costing around $750,000 which has been funded by the State Government.
Greenspan principal consultant Mark Wolf said the system being installed in Somerset is state of the art, and will assist in providing valuable advanced warning during times of flood.
Somerset mayor Graeme Lehmann said the testing was intended to ensure volume levels are correct and the systems are "functioning as expected".
"Residents can also visit council's website and listen to the tone which will be used during a Flood Early Warning System siren activation," he said.
"I would encourage residents with any questions or concerns regarding the Flood Early Warning System to phone council on 5424 4000."
