MADISON, Wis. -- Sirens sounded all across Wisconsin on Thursday as part of the state's annual tornado drill. The drill also followed a new siren procedure for alerting Dane County residents of severe weather.

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Now, only those in the affected areas of Dane County will hear the warning sirens -- rather than the entire county, WISC-TV reported.

For some, a tornado siren is never ignored. For others, sirens are just background noise and are often brushed aside.

"That's exactly what happened here that day," Stoughton Fire Chief Marty Lamers said of the tornados that caused millions of dollars of damage in the area in 2005. "It was great weather here in Stoughton, and a quarter of a mile to the north of us, it was a disaster."

For years, the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings county by county, even if a storm was only threatening one area. On Thursday, the warnings were much more specific, targeting exactly the area that the story is expected to hit.

"Our challenge then, is to take that area that's at risk, and match it to the (siren) zones that we have," said Dave Zanda of Dane County Emergency Management.

There are nine siren zones in Dane County that were established within the last few years. But this year is the first time officials are alerting only specific zones to a potential threat.

So, if a tornado warning was issued in the north-east part of the county -- touching zones two, three, five, and six -- sirens would sound there. But zones one, four, seven, eight and nine would remain quiet.

Many are embracing the idea of warning only those who need the warning. But Stoughton resident Sharon Lursen said she would like all the sirens to continue to sound.

"I think we all need the warning," Lursen said. "I live in Rosewood, in the west of town, so sometimes I don't even hear that siren. So, I would like them all over."

Dane County Emergency Management said it has heard the debate for years. Officials said they think this new system will be much more effective.

Lamers, who saw the benefits of sirens first hand in his city three years ago, said the new system is a necessary change.

"When they do it this way, it's really going to be a lot better for the public," Lamers said.

The system upgrade was big -- but at a small cost. Dane County Emergency Management said all it took was a $200 software program.

On the horizon is a system that would ignore the zones and trigger each individual siren in the warning area. Officials said that option will be much more expensive and in the distant future but that it's being talked about.