[BC] Tornado hits... (sirens)

[Dwayne Walker]

I was reading an account on the Fox News website where a spokesman said the sirens were for people out doors.  I don't know the reasons in the case of the KY/IN sirens.
  
But, a small community near my home has said they planned their sirens for only those who were out doors.  Apparently the people inside with windows closed, air-conditioning on and background music/TV are supposed to rely on WX radio if they have one...or a paranormal experience in the event of a tornado. The real problem in the case here is budget.  I suspect when the original sirens here were put in in the 50's and 60's, lifestyles were different and highly insulated air-conditioned homes were few if any. Now they can't fund new louder sirens.

Dwayne Walker




-----Original Message-----
From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
[mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net]On Behalf Of Mike McCarthy
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 7:05 AM
To: Broadcast Radio Mailing List
Subject: Re: [BC] Tornado hits ERI's old area


Problem is the CO switch probably could not handle tens of thousands of 
calls at once. Limited call outs like the FD example are limited to maybe 
100 calls.  Then comes the who gets called first and how that is determined 
on less than a few seconds questions.

I'll be really interested in reading NOAA's disaster assessment report to 
see just how much time passed between when the WSR88D near Evansville 
detected the TVS, when the warnings were issued, when the first spottings 
occurred/reported (which is really hard to do at night) and when 
the  tornado actually touched down.

Sirens are still the best way to do warnings. Problem is they are genrally 
spaced too far apart to be effective.  Anything more than a couple blocks 
and with newer homes being so well insulated, their wail doesn't penetrate 
walls as well as before.

MM