Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsCohutta Mayor Ron Shinnick discusses the town's new emergency siren, in the background. The siren has a range of about two miles and has already been used to alert residents to tornado warnings.

COHUTTA, Ga. — When a powerful storm barreled through Whitfield County on Wednesday, Cohutta residents got an alert that a tornado warning had been issued thanks to a new emergency siren the city installed last month.

“The response from our citizens has been very positive,” said Police Chief Ray Grossman. “I had several people who told me that their weather radios did not go off or they did not get their phone alerts. So they were very appreciative that we have the siren. Cellphone coverage up here can be spotty, so this gives us another tool to help keep our residents safe.”

City officials began looking into installing a siren after the 2011 tornado that devastated Ringgold and parts of Catoosa County.

“That really woke people up,” said Mayor Ron Shinnick.

The total project cost a little over $25,000, with the city picking up 15 percent and the state 25 percent. The remaining 60 percent was funded with a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Cohutta resident Jeff Brock came to the council members and asked them to apply for the grant to install a siren.

“I got the paperwork on the grant rolling. I didn’t actually write the grant. We hired someone else to do that. It was a lengthy process,” Brock said.

The siren is located on Mount Olivet, close to downtown Cohutta.

“That’s the highest part of the city. The other nice thing about that location is that it is close to (Cohutta Elementary School), so the school can hear it,” said Shinnick.

Brock says he’s very happy with the result.

“I live about a half mile away from it, and I can hear it inside my house with the doors and windows closed and the TV going,” he said. “It’s very loud. When they set it up and tested it for the first time, I drove up to the Cohutta Fish Hatchery. That’s roughly two miles away, and it was still pretty loud up there.”

Shinnick said the siren can reach most of Cohutta.

“Because of the hilly nature of the city, we may have to put a second one in in the future to get a little better location. We are already looking for a grant for that,” he said.

Officials say they are looking at a location close to Cleveland Highway.

In addition to the tone for severe weather, the siren has a separate tone for other emergencies.

“Cohutta is split by train tracks. We actually have three tracks and a large amount of train traffic comes through here. We will use that tone if we have a train derail or a chemical spill,” said Shinnick.

Shinnick says the town plans a community meeting soon to give residents more information about the siren and what to do when they hear it.