Indiana Administrative Code › Title 290 - DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY › Article 2 - SEVERE WEATHER WARNING SIRENS › Rule 1 - Severe Weather Warning Siren Planning › Section 1-5 - Minimum technical standards for severe weather warning sirens

Current through July 10, 2024
Authority: IC
				  36-8-21.5-9
Affected: IC
				  36-8-21.5-13
Sec. 5.
(a) The
				following standards and specifications shall be applied to those outdoor severe
				weather warning sirens installed and maintained in Indiana counties that have
				prepared a county siren coverage plan:
(1)
				Severe weather warning sirens may be of either electromechanical or electronic
				design.
(2) Severe weather warning
				sirens may employ three (3) coverage patterns to provide a full range of the
				alert coverage to a given area:
(A)
				directional, which are devices sending out a highly focused cone of sound in
				the direction that they are pointing;
(B) rotating, which are devices designed to
				spin completely several times per minute so the sound spreads three hundred
				sixty (360) degrees in a horizontal plane; or
(C) omnidirectional, which are devices
				designed to have the same sound power in all directions in a horizontal plane
				by employing multiple horns radiating out from a central point, covering a full
				three hundred sixty (360) degrees, without the need to rotate.
(3) Severe weather warning sirens
				shall be weather resistant and able to operate in a range of environmental
				conditions and temperatures (minus thirty (30) degrees centigrade to plus sixty
				(60) degrees centigrade).
(4)
				Severe weather warning sirens shall be resistant to insects and nesting
				birds.
(5) Severe weather warning
				sirens shall have sufficient power to provide for continuous, uninterrupted
				service to perform all of its essential functions including the activation,
				control, monitoring, and testing of the warning system components if conditions
				warrant. Severe weather warning sirens shall:
(A) be powered by the local electrical grid
				and in order to operate in the absence of this power source; and
(B) integrate and use one (1) or more of the
				following backup power configurations:
(i)
				Primary power from a local electric distribution grid, supplemented by
				emergency or standby power systems (for example, engine-driven
				generators).
(ii) Primary power
				from a local electrical distribution grid backed by an SEPSS (for example,
				batteries).
(iii) Primary power
				from on-site power system (for example, engine-driven generator) backed by
				SEPSS.
(iv) Primary power from
				uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that "floats" on local electrical
				distribution grid.
(v)
				Photo-voltaic or thermo-voltaic devices (that is, solar cells, used to charge
				SEPSS to supply steady electric power).
(6) UPS or SEPSS for outdoor severe weather
				warning siren systems shall:
(A) at a minimum,
				be designed to operate in a standby mode for at least twenty-four (24) hours
				without AC power from the local electrical distribution grid;
(B) be capable of operating in its alerting
				mode at its full design capability without recharge for a period of at least
				fifteen (15) minutes;
(C) allow for
				automatic charging to be sized such that batteries in the UPS or SEPSS are
				fully recharged to at least eighty percent (80%) of their maximum rated
				capacity from the fully discharged state in a period of twenty-four (24) hours;
				and
(D) utilize batteries of a
				maintenance-free design with a charging system designed to ensure a minimum
				battery life of at least three (3) years.
(7) The installation, maintenance, and use of
				severe weather warning sirens shall follow the manufacturer's recommendations
				and guidelines.