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MILAN, Mo. -- When severe weather season rolls around next spring, one Northeast Missouri community should be better prepared thanks to a nearly $12,500 check from USDA Rural Development.

The mock check, presented Wednesday, represents a grant that will be used to buy two new early storm warning sirens for the city of Milan.

The city and the local electric cooperative are pitching in another nearly $12,000 to pay for the rest of the project.

Milan currently has one warning siren, but officials say it's not enough.

"We have this one tower that's on top of the courthouse, which is kind of the center of town, but it nevertheless doesn't give coverage throughout the town. Depending on the wind and that sort of thing, there are a lot of areas that do not get coverage. This should give coverage to the entire town," Bill Phillips, Milan City Attorney, said.

One of the new sirens will be put up on the south end of town, the other on the north side.    

The two new sirens should be in place by next spring in time for the 2008 severe weather season.