Funding will pay for flood warning siren in Occoquan

The money for a warning siren in Occoquan is tacked onto a Homeland Security appropriations bill, so the $25,000 project should come the town’s way soon.

Rep. Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly, D-11th, recently got the money for a the siren that would warn town residents if the Occoquan River dam ever failed.

The money for the dam failure warning system, which could warn residents of an impending flood, will come through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, stated a recent press release from Connolly’s office.

A flood could reach the town of Occoquan in as little as five minutes with waves as high as 47 feet if there was ever a catastrophic dam failure, the release stated.

Local officials, including Occoquan Mayor Porta and Vice Mayor Ken Brunsvold, were pleased that Connolly had secured the congressional appropriation for the dam failure warning system.

“A public warning system to notify downstream communities of a catastrophic dam failure is something that people have been talking about here for more than a decade, but until now nothing has come of it” Porta stated in the release. “We're extremely grateful to Congressman Connolly for securing the funding necessary to move this important project forward.”

Brunsvold said, “We appreciate Congressman Connolly's work to help us on this. A sudden dam failure is something you certainly hope will never happen, but when you're a community just a few minutes downstream, a warning for such an event is critical.” Brusnvold stated in the release.

Though the money isn’t much by in the overall scheme of things, it could save a lot of people if anything ever went wrong.

“This may be a small federal appropriation by Congressional standards, but for the Town of Occoquan and its citizens and businesses it's a priceless lifesaver,” Connolly said.

“This siren project will add a substantial margin of safety for the citizens who live and work in Occoquan’s downtown district as well as the visitors who often crowd the town's streets and shops. A wall of water sweeping through the Town and other Prince William County neighborhoods could have devastating consequences if there was no advance warning to prompt an evacuation,” he said.

The House-Senate conference report on the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for fiscal 2010, which passed the House on Thursday, is expected to pass the Senate shortly and be sent to President Barak Obama for his signature.