Tuesday's (Mar. 8) test of the county's tornado warning system got an A-minus.

Former teacher and current Gray-son County Emergency Management Coordinator said the minus came from Falls of Rough.

"We only got a 30-second blast from the siren over there," Smith said, "and we were supposed to have had a 3-minute blast."

The drill, which started precisely at 9:07 a.m., was part of a statewide Emergency Management test of local warning systems. Smith said the Falls of Rough siren, one that is "pretty old" is going to have to be replaced.

Smith said this spring's testing of the system, one that now includes eight sirens around the county that reach 65 percent of the people and 42 in-house "informers" connected directly to E-911 dispatchers, went much better than earlier tests.

"All fire departments, schools, day care centers, and many of the county's workplaces are participating," he said.

Smith said the county needs about six to eight more sirens to reach every person living here, "and we're applying for every grant we can to get those in and operating."

However, even with a perfect warning system, Smith says individuals still have to take responsibility for their actions immediately after a disaster of any kind, be it a tornado, a chemical spill, an earthquake, etc.

"One thing I've learned is that any time there is a disaster," he said, "there's going to be three or four hours of chaos."

"Until all of us, including emergency people, get organized, individuals have to have a plan for where they will meet, who they'll call, to find out who's okay and who's not."