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Health & Fitness

Severe Weather Warnings and Public Complacency

Are sirens the correct way to alert people to severe weather?

I've been reading an article by James Spann. If you were watching any streaming news the day of the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham tornado, you probably saw James. He is the Chief Meteorologist for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham. He is extremely knowledgeable and regarded as one of the best in the country at what he does and I was extremely impressed with his coverage and the fact that he was on the air for 8 hours straight that day. 

I found some very interesting points in his article (read the full article here) but one that caught my attention and has a significant potential impact for us was this:

"I heard it over and over as people described their April 27 experience. “I hear those sirens all the time, and nothing ever happens”. The cry wolf syndrome is very real, and very dangerous.

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*Too many people believe they should hear a siren before a tornado strikes.

I think the time has come to take them down. Sirens are not efficient, reach a limited number of people, and can’t be heard in most homes, schools, and businesses. And, in most counties, the sirens don’t sound only in the warned polygon, they sound county wide. In some cases, this means you are hearing a siren when the actual tornado threat is over 40 miles away.

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Sirens were born during the Cold War with the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s… their time has come and gone. If the sirens are taken down, then you KNOW you won’t hear one next time there is a tornado threat.

Most southerners still have the “siren mentality”, and that no doubt killed people April 27."

Let me know what you think, I'd love to get some feedback.

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