There’s a reason you’ll hear emergency sirens in the Midlands Tuesday

SCE&G will conduct two separate tests of siren warning systems Tuesday, in two Midlands locations.

At noon, SCE&G will activate the siren warning system along the Lower Saluda River as part of the Lake Murray Dam emergency action plan, according to a news release. A full, 3-minute sounding of the sirens is conducted on the second Tuesday of January each year.

One-minute functional tests will be conducted at noon on the second Tuesday of each month for the rest of the year.

At approximately 1 p.m., SCE&G will sound the 109 sirens located within a 10-mile radius of V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County near Jenkinsville. All sirens surrounding the plant will usually be sounded on the first Tuesday of each quarter for 1 minute as part of the plant’s regular testing program.

Area residents are reminded that the 1-minute sounding of sirens during this time period is only a test. In the unlikely event of an actual emergency at the plant, the sirens would sound for 3 minutes with no prior notice and would alert area residents to tune in to an Emergency Alert System radio or television station for further instructions.

For more information, log on to www.sceg.com/nuclearpreparedness, or call your local emergency management office:

• Fairfield County 803-635-4444
• Lexington County 803-785-8342
• Newberry County 803-321-2135
• Richland County 803-576-3400
• S.C. Emergency Management Division 803-737-8500

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 3:01 PM with the headline "There’s a reason you’ll hear emergency sirens in the Midlands Tuesday."