Emergency sirens test Jan. 7, to be heard in parts of Del. City, Middletown, Woodland Beach

Emergency siren tests are back in Delaware, so no need to fret on Tuesday, Jan. 7, if you hear them. 

The Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), the Delaware State Police, and the Public Service Enterprise Group will conduct a quarterly test of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station’s Alert and Notification system at 10:45 a.m.

The sirens cover an area north from Delaware City, west to Middletown, and south to Woodland Beach.

“These tests are part of an ongoing program between DEMA and PSEG that continually monitors the integrity of the siren system, so we are able to alert the public within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone of the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station [in New Jersey] in the event of an actual emergency,” said Patrick O’Connell, DEMA’s planning supervisor for the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program.

About the sirens

There are 37 sirens in Delaware located within that 10-mile radius.

Sirens will be activated for three to five minutes, followed by a test message of the Emergency Alert System on local radio stations. 

Those tested are the same ones used to alert the public in the event of an actual emergency at either the Salem or Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations.

In the event of an actual emergency, there would be a series of steady three to five minutes of siren sounds that would alert citizens to turn their radio to an Emergency Alert System station for critical emergency information or instructions.

“Delaware’s emergency sirens are an important outdoor warning system used to alert those who are outside that something dangerous is happening and that they should go indoors and get more information,” O’Connell said.

Delaware is one of 32 states with populations that live within 10 miles of a commercial nuclear reactor.

The last emergency sirens test was in early October.