As we settle fully into our usual Spring Severe Weather Season, local emergency management agencies are wanting the public to fully understand the tool that is a tornado siren.
Todd County Emergency Management Director Ash Groves says the first thing you need to know is that tornado sirens are strictly for warning individuals who might be outdoors and unaware of approaching dangers, be that a tornado or a severe storm. Folks indoors shouldn’t depend on those sirens as their main warning systems, as the sirens can easily be overshadowed by noises inside your home—especially if you’re sleeping.
Other information you might find helpful is knowing that severe weather warnings all begin with the National Weather Service, with this region covered by the office in Paducah. When they issue a warning, those warning are outlined on a computerized map that represents the direction the storm is traveling, at what speed and at what intensity. Those outlines often have unusual shapes, which means that some sirens may sound in the county, but others may not.
That polygon may also result in some people get alerts to their phones while others don’t, so for that reason, it’s important to have multiple ways to receive warnings to maximum safety. Cellular towers do not determine who receives alerts, they just broadcast the warning to all compatible devices within range.
Todd County utilizes modern siren technology from Table Rock Alerting Systems, which controls how each siren is activated. While sirens can be manually activated by dispatch personnel, they are currently configured to respond automatically to weather alerts through data feeds from the National Weather Service.
Todd County will also begin conducting monthly meetings of their tornado sirens, starting on April 4 and taking place after on the first Saturday of each month at noon.