CANNON BEACH — Many residents are familiar with the resounding “moos” that reverberate around town and warn of impending tsunami danger.

But for months, the cow-like sirens have been absent after the Coastal Outside Warning System ceased functioning, leaving people concerned and wondering how to know if a disaster may strike.

City Manager Bruce St. Denis said the tsunami warning system had been malfunctioning on and off for as long as a year due to age and wear from the salty environment. The city had been trying to find a way to prolong the lifespan of the warning system that dates back to the 1980s.

On Dec. 13, the city posted an alert on the city’s website stating that the Coastal Outside Warning System — or COWS — was not operational.

People were instead directed to refer to emergency notifications such as Nixle and ClatsopAlerts.

St. Denis said the alert came about once city staff realized that residents had been largely relying on the sirens instead of emergency notifications.

Now, he said, city staff have found the old system irreparable, and they’ve set their sights on a newer system as a replacement. At this point, it’s a matter of getting the project budgeted.

“It’ll be a capital project … I believe it was in the neighborhood of $190,000,” St. Denis said. “It would, you know, come from the general fund.”

At a work session in December, Debbie Workman, a resident, said the lack of a siren warning system put visitors and residents who have not signed up for alternative emergency notifications at risk.

“I know that we have alternatives such as Nixle and Everbridge and that, but a lot of people rely on that siren to alert them in case of an emergency such as a tsunami,” she said.

Workman referred to a significant earthquake off the coast of Northern California in December that prompted a tsunami warning in southern Oregon.

“And I think that that heightens the critical nature of this, that, you know, we need to have this in place,” she said.

As city staff navigate the budgeting process for a new tsunami warning system and begin exploring a contract with an electronics company, St. Denis said it is unknown how long it will be before the new system is operational.

“But we are working on it, you know, with vendors and things like that,” he said.

St. Denis said the issue will likely be revisited at a City Council meeting or work session in January.