As the South weathers yet another tornado season, Brookhaven residents can finally look forward to having sirens to warn of impending severe storms.

This past Tuesday night, the Board of Alderman approved a bid to install five weather alert units at a cost of $79,000. Ninety-five percent of the expense will be covered by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The awarding of a bid on the siren project to Precision Communications last week comes nearly a year after the city received approval of the grant. The months in between have involved a bidding process that had to be conducted twice.

The first round of bids had to be rejected because the aldermen received mixed options of mechanically and electronically generated sirens. Tuesday’s approved bid is for five electronic weather alerts, which appear to be the most popular type of siren for new installations.

The action by the aldermen last week culminates a process that began in May 2008, when Brookhaven officials first applied for the FEMA money through the Mississippi EMA.

The sirens will be positioned strategically throughout the city and are expected to be installed in a little over three months. The planned locations are:

• 906 Highway 51 S.

• the end of East Washington Street

• the corner of Field Lark Lane and Industrial Park Road

• the corner of Fender Trail and Manufacturers Boulevard

• the corner of Monticello Street and North Jackson.

We’re thankful city officials persevered and finally secured a weather warning system for Brookhaven. It’s taken some time to get to this point, but citizens can now expect to see the sirens going into place and into use in the relatively near future.