Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
May 2, 2006
Have you heard the storm sirens? After the tornado came through on April 2, we discovered that our warnings were activated but did not sound. We solved that glitch, and we have sounded the sirens several times since. They were activated twice on Sunday and twice on Monday. You would think we were in an air raid.
We have received several calls and emails regarding the siren activations, mostly inquiring why they were sounding when no tornado warning was issued or when the storm seemed not to be near O’Fallon. The confusion may stem from a misunderstanding of when the sirens will be activated. Our policy states that the Emergency Alert system will be activated through the O’Fallon Police Department dispatch center when the following conditions are present:
1. Tornado Warning - A tornado has been visually confirmed and/or a tornado warning has been issued indicating that O’Fallon is in the path of an approaching tornado, conditions of an approaching storm exist for the development of a tornado, or whenever any reported tornado sighting within the City, or nearby community, is confirmed.
2. High Winds - When it has been confirmed that "Damaging Force" winds will be impacting the City of O’Fallon and/or the National Weather Service has issued a Severe Storm/High Wind Warning indicating damaging force winds. Damaging Force winds are those winds monitored with gusts at 58+ mph.
Now that the sirens have been activated four times in two days, residents are now concerned whether the threshold for activation is too low. They have a point that if the sirens go off too often, then people will not take them seriously. But how much is too much? If the conditions are truly severe, does it matter how many times the sirens have been activated?
One of the problems is that warning sirens are not very informative. The siren tells you severe weather is coming, but it doesn’t tell you what the threat is, where it is, or what you need to do to protect yourself. Although our sirens are new, the method of communication is old.
When the sirens are activated, it is important that residents have an additional method of information. Many people watch TV or view radar on the Internet, but they are useless if the power goes out. We recommend a battery-powered NOAA weather radio. They can be programmed to sound an alarm if a warning is issued for St. Clair County and will give detailed audio weather reports on the nature of the threat. Weather radios are relatively inexpensive and are much more informative than sirens.
In light of the comments we have received from residents, we will review our siren activation policy and hopefully we can find a solution that is acceptable to residents and effective in warning the community.
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