Countywide tornado siren testing may start May 5 instead of next Tuesday

Add comment April 2nd, 2009

The first siren test for the new $2.5 million Winnebago County Outdoor Emergency Warning Siren System may be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 5.

County officials had hoped to do the first test next Tuesday, April 7, but 14 of the 74 poles on which the sirens are mounted throughout the county have yet to be installed. That’s because wet weather has caused weight restrictions on some roads so trucks used to install the remaining poles can’t get to their destinations, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Chief Don Gasparini said today.

Gasparini said residents of the 520-square-mile county will be advised through the media and other outlets weeks before testing begins. He said hopes are to start the testing next month, and testing will continue at 10 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month.

The tests will last one minute and will be a long steady blast.

Here are the siren warnings in the case of a real emergency:

If  a tornado has been detected by the National Weather Service on radar or a sighting of a tornado or funnel cloud has been made by a trained weather spotter, the blast will be long and steady and last for three to five minutes. You should take cover in your basement and listen to your television, radio or weather radio to monitor the situation.

If the siren sound is a fast wail — rises for six seconds and falls for six seconds and lasts for three minutes — it means there is an attack, and you should tune to radio or TV for more information.

If the siren is a slow wail –  rises for 16 seconds and falls for eight  seconds for 1.5 minutes — it means there is a threatening condition, such as a chemical spill or leak, and you should immediately evacuate the area.

All-clear alerts will not be made.

This is an outdoor warning system. And if you’re indoors and not very near a siren, you may not hear the warning. So residents are advised to use weather radios indoors and to tune into TV and radio during threatening weather conditions.

George Bigcanoe of Best Road in Davis, a retired electrician, is getting ready for the testing. A siren is located about 335 feet from his property. He said he’ll keep his dog, Marie, inside when the test siren is sounding so she won’t get scared by the siren’s blast.

The siren’s decibel level won’t physically hurt Bigcanoe’s ears nor his dog’s, said Dale Moeller, president and chief executive officer of American Signal Corp. of Milwaukee, which made the sirens that are being installed here.

He said if he lived near a siren, though, the test sound “would be annoying to me.” But, he said, “They are supposed to get your attention.”

For more information, go to winnebagosheriff.com.

Rockford’s Fat Elvis is fat no more

Add comment April 2nd, 2009

Chris Roser’s Elvis imitation “still sucks” — his words, not mine. And the Rockford band that goes by the name Fat Elvis and performs others’ tunes at area bars continues to play only four Elvis songs.

But the not-so-big news is that Roser, singer of Fat Elvis,  is fat no more. He’s lost 85 pounds the past two years and is no longer bursting at the seams in his “Fat Elvis” costume, like he was in this Register Star photo taken five years ago.

Now, his costume is baggy. Roser, 38, said he decided to shape up when he became romantically involved and thought he might start a family, though he’s not in that relationship now and hasn’t started a family. As part of his new outlook on life, he took a physically demanding job at a distribution center for a discount store and has started taking classes to become a physical therapy assistant. “Now, I know, most of all, you have to do it (get fit) to feel good about yourself.”

If you’d like to see the not-so-fat Fat Elvis perform, the band will play Saturday, April 11, at JD’s Sports Bar and Grill, 908 W. Riverside Blvd., Rockford.

Roser doesn’t think fans will mind if he’s fat or not. “Our show is just one big party,” he said in an e-mail. “It’s just the vibe that is created by a guy in an Elvis costume who isn’t afraid to do anything he wants on stage, and gets away with it.”