I have an idea about these horrible weather incidents

[Beatlelvr]

Watching the vast devastation brought wirh tornados and other disasters that come with little warning, I'm wondering...aren't there people on constant weather watch around the country? Are they alerted to these situations before the general public? And if so, couldn't there be a vast siren system put into place? Maybe a siren station/pole every 200 yards (or whatever) in areas subject to tornados, flooding, hurricanes, fires. (Sounds like most of the country now.) This would be life saving especially when these disasters come at night? Or is that a stupid idea?

[BradAllison]

1. A lot of places have a tornado horn

Not sure what the coverage was in this particular area.

[calguy]

2. The system is already in place

The storms came through our area last night in Arkansas and the local tv stations had non-stop radar tracking on the air live. Alerts were in place for areas where rotations are occurring and people in were alerted to take covet.
The problem is when tornadoes drop out of the sky, they have a good idea of where it *might* happen, but no way to pin point when or were.

[2naSalit]

4. Also...

I was seeing warnings on news sites earlier in the week stating that severe weather was coming and a general area of concern. Both Accuweather and TWC had live special reporting ongoing through the night.

[fwvinson]

14. Bowling Green, KY has a emergency warning system, "Cow Horns"

They blew their heads off for a long time, while the 2 or 3 tornados were striking. Probably saved a few people there.

[Irish_Dem]

3. I live in a tornado alley and we already have sirens.

Large siren system which is tested once a month. Test sirens go off first Wed of every month.
Sirens can be heard by a large portion of the local population.

We have have good radar/weather alert system which usually can track a storm, funnel clouds, as accurately as block by block which is shown on TV so people can seek shelter. When sirens go off, we run to a safe place in the home.

A problem is when the tornado hits during the middle of the night and people are sleeping. Or if the tornado springs up very suddenly.

In KY the storm touched down for over 200 miles, and most of us would not be prepared for that kind of situation.
With a bad storm, even seeking shelter doesn't guarantee safety.

[Docreed2003]

5. Most of the areas affected have sirens

We have them here in TN in many places and I know they do in Bowling Green, which was rocked just north of us. At about 0320 we had alerts go off on our phones alerting us of Tornado Watch for our area and to take shelter. Sirens in our area were going off at the same time. It wasn't long afterwards that the worst past right over our house.

[cloudbase]

6. A dedicated weather radio is helpful.

There's not a person alive who could sleep through the alarm when the radio alerts.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Is this satire?

[Irish_Dem]

8. People who don't live in tornado alleys have no idea what it is like.

And what safety precautions we put in place.

I have friends who live in California and they think living with tornados, sirens, etc is crazy.
Of course, I think their earthquakes and fires are crazier.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. Yep. Lived almost all my life in tornado country. Would take it any day over earthquakes.

With a tornado, you have plenty of advance notification of the possibility. Earthquakes just fuckin happen.

[Irish_Dem]

11. I agree. Earthquakes and fires seem really scary.

Fires move so fast and earthquakes just happen out of nowhere.

At least with tornadoes we have sirens, radar, etc.
We can run to shelter, we have a fighting chance.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

13. Earthquakes happen far less frequently than tornadoes I would think. And tornadoes are

localized, don’t effect an entire State, this monster being a historical first travelling on the ground 200 miles.

Frankly not much of a choice, live in fear of earthquakes or tornadoes, pick your poison.

Idaho seems safe, but it’s Idaho.

[Tetrachloride]

10. Tornadoes in my Wisconsin experience appear between 2 pm to 11 pm as temperature falls especially

with a cold front moving in.

As with any disaster, night plus rain is worse.

Candles, rope, clean water, clean wash cloths, band aids. and more water.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Yes, there are tornado sirens in places that get tornadoes.

When I lived in Kansas, the sirens were tested regularly, once a month I believe, during the spring and summer. Unless the weather was iffy, and then they weren't tested because they wanted to make sure if they went off people would take the sirens seriously.

We spent lots of hours huddled in the basement of our house listening to the weather radio. It's a thing.

[MuseRider]

17. They test once a week now in Kansas.

It is on Monday at noon. There are so many ways to know and take care of yourself but lately they have changed. Now they do not warn for a lowering cloud, you know, a tornado that has not touched down. I was looking on my Facebook 2 summers ago when I saw after a friend warned me to look at the photo the local station had posted a picture of a funnel cloud and it was right over my farm! They did not warn because it was not touching down! That can happen within seconds but it still holds now, no warning unless there is a touch down. I missed it all because I was not watching closely. It makes it all a little less safe. Been through some close calls and an F5 when I was 12 so.....I pay attention but would rather stay up top and watch for myself. At this point I think I know what I am looking for, famous last words!

[IbogaProject]

15. Tornado Alley has that

Tornado Alley has that but the now expanded area needs it now and improved building codes. NJ, PA & NY are all getting them the last few years.

[MuseRider]

18. The alley is moving.

We were smack in the middle of it all my life and I cannot remember the last time there was a warning near me. Some around but nothing like it used to be. I have mixed feelings about that since I do not like the dryer/hotter trend in the weather and prefer the conditions that tornados are usually part of. I really feel for those now in the bullseye. Not only are they getting what we used to get they are getting them much much worse.

[Bayard]

16. All we have here is the phone alerts

And I slept right through that last night.

[Corgigal]

19. We were given a probability scale

at least 24 hours before anything occurred. My area it was a 2. Which means you watch. You always try to figure out a safe place inside a building. Shelter in place is a thing. No one knows which way to freak out and run in a car, or on foot in the dark 15 mins before it happens. Humans can’t control weather, and if it’s a F5 tornado, not much anyone can do.

When I lived in South Carolina and a hurricane is coming, I just loaded up the kids and insurance papers , made a hotel reservation and left a day before everyone else. I never rode out a hurricane level 2 or above. Tornado will do what it wants, when it wants, and you just hope the line doesn’t cross your home/workplace. All those people didn’t commit suicide, they were just unfortunate enough to be where at Cat 5 Tornado touched down. The same thing could happen to you in a home.

We are thinking about getting an outside, underground tornado shelter. However, a Cat 5 can pull up the ground….so unsure. Not everyone has those funds, nor does it always work.

Don’t blame victims, because it can happen to anyone. Natural disasters can happen to anyone, we all have our risks. If you were taking a road trip, and pulled in a hotel to take a break. You would have had to make the same assessment.

[Beatlelvr]

20. Okay.

Thank you for all the information. I'm glad to know those systems are in place already. Sorry to sound so naive, but as some of you stated, those of us who do not live in tornado prone areas are clueless about the warnings put in place.

[Sympthsical]

21. The sirens are almost impossible to ignore

These are in Chicago. Over the years, the suburbs around it have been hit a few times. The Midwest is inneresting.

[Midnight Writer]

22. Sirens went off here Friday night. Three tornado touchdowns within 5 miles of me.

They are not yet sure if they were separate tornadoes or a single one sweeping along an area.