Is Now The Right Time For Tornado Sirens in Lubbock? [POLL]

It is budget season for the Lubbock City Council and according to one report, tornado sirens might be coming soon to the Hub City.

In the proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget, $980,000 is set aside for what is called an emergency warning system across Lubbock. The project, which would be a cash purchase instead of a bond also includes a new staffing position. That persons job would be to oversee and install the new emergency warning system across the City of Lubbock.

Tornado sirens are not a new idea for Lubbock. In fact, they have been discussed for years during severe weather season. In 2014, a Citizens Advisory Committee recommended that the Lubbock City Council purchase sirens, but that never happened. One of the arguments against sirens in 2014 was the cost. At the time, the cost was estimated to be around $10 million dollars. Today, that figure is much lower at under a million dollars.

One major hurdle for the Lubbock City Council might be the pandemic. It is expected that the City of Lubbock will take a huge hit in sales taxes and there might not be enough money in this year's budget to tackle all of the projects the Lubbock City Council wants to take on.

Do you think the Lubbock City Council should approve tornado sirens in their next budget? Vote in our poll below.