2008 Tornado Death Toll Nearing 100

I doubt small rural communities have storm warning sirens and definitely do not have reverse 911 abilities.

I would think someone has a radio with the weather band on it and would start calling neighbors to warn them. I hate to see this happen anywhere but it seems on the 10th areas with no cable, no sirens, probably no civil government or police were hit. You would think the county would have reverse 911 where they could place an automated call to small communities with a warning.

I agree that sirens were great back in the 'old' days when there weren't any air conditioners. Now with our Energy Efficient windows, I barely hear our wind chimes whipping in the wind!

Government should 'encourage' people to get a weather radio rather than spend tax $$$ on them. Most of the time when someone gets something for nothing, they don't take care of it.

www.cookevilleweatherguy.com

Sirens are good for outdoor warning, and even used to be good before the time of air conditioners for normal warning.

Fact of the matter is, they still are only good for decently dense populations. It'd be money much better spent to invest in a few thousand noaa weather radios and hand them out to citizens instead of putting up sirens where only a few can hear.

We at SevereStudios would really like to see a NOAA Weather Radio in every house. Realistically, 25% of households would be a good start.

SO very true .. Even in the growing town of fergus, ontario. I know plenty of people that were taken off by the storms that moved through here in 2005. No sierens went off and no weather warnings were posted for tornadoes till after the fact. Our work as trackers, spotters and weather photography need to some how inform where the governments of our two nations are slacking. NOAA, NWS, and Environment canada are indeed doing an amazing job but there is little to zero "Public" education occuring. New broadcasts are spotty and only ever cover the worst parts. The deaths and distruction of these massiza storms which are being more and more undercut. They arent uncommon and are not on the rise. Looking back on historical reports nothing major has changed in the developments of the events, but simply how we look at them. The media should cover every angle of these events from none class to F0 through 5. We're taking our time here to video tape every side we can of weather and yet the number of people who know what they really need to know to survive is still so low. Im apart of the spotter network and ive seen the amout of reports a few storms can generate but i goto look in the media and nothing comes up. Sure its hard work to get the video and the air time but i think people should know. Sorry for rambling on i just wish there was more we all could do to make some deeper impacts to the ones around us to maybe one day trully protect everyone. Prayers for all lost injured and effected by yet another storm in the south.

PS. Thanks to all the wonderful people that risk it all to get the video, reports and latest information on all weather. You are all heros

Dave,

I agree that the sirens are meant for those outdoors. I guess my point was that for those that live several miles from town a WX alert radio would be a much better plan than relying on sirens.

As far as tuning into the radio while driving; I remember when I was driving truck over the road I carried a WX alert radio in the truck with me. When the weather looked like it was going to get bad I turned it on. It's a **really** bad idea to get caught unaware with a 53' long 13'6" tall trailer (sail) behind you.

Jim C

Sirens were meant to warn those who are outdoors to seek shelter. So for those who are indoors a wx alert radio is a must. For those who may not be near their wx alert radio, an alternative would be a text messaging service or tuning into the radio while driving.

Dave

I've got a friend that lives in a rural area in Oklahoma near Mcallister. I know one fo the issues in that area is not being able to hear the warning sirens. If people would just have a NOAA radio a lot of this could be avoided.

I wonder if local government could get involved at the county level and offer radios to those people living in rural areas?

Jim C

The #1 cause of death in our area (TN) is shelter. With mobile homes so prevelant throughout the southern United States and improper built homes, you see so many preventable fatalities. The 2nd leading cause of death is lack of information. Either people don't care or don't think it'll happen to them.

~Interesting...

www.cookevilleweatherguy.com