Storm Cellars/Tornado Sirens

[Extremeweatherguy]

i'm not sure but could it be that the tornadoes in FL generally don't stay on the ground that long and that might be why there are no sirens? basically by the time the siren sounds the tornado is gone???

if someone would comment on that i would appreciate it! that is just how i see it.

ditto on the water table/basement replies. a lot of areas in the midwest, near the Mississippi for instance are even prone to flooding so you would evacuate to a pool.

with that much moisture (let alone foundation problems) you would also be risking more termite damage in areas such as where i live. they are already bad down here!!! don't need to "invite" them

Yes, most tornadoes in Florida are weak and brief with F0/F1 intensities and not lasting more than 10 minutes. However, there have been many cases when this has not been the case. One exception was the 1998 superoutbreak which featured many strong, long-tracked tornadoes across the state and killed nearly 50 PEOPLE in one night (which is more than have died so far this year)!!! I think sirens in Florida would be very helpful in that type of event. For more info. on the Central Florida outbreak of 98'...refer to these links:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/cntrlfl.pdf

http://www.disastercenter.com/flortorn.htm

[senorpepr]

i'm not sure but could it be that the tornadoes in FL generally don't stay on the ground that long and that might be why there are no sirens? basically by the time the siren sounds the tornado is gone???

if someone would comment on that i would appreciate it! that is just how i see it.

ditto on the water table/basement replies. a lot of areas in the midwest, near the Mississippi for instance are even prone to flooding so you would evacuate to a pool.

with that much moisture (let alone foundation problems) you would also be risking more termite damage in areas such as where i live. they are already bad down here!!! don't need to "invite" them

Yes, most tornadoes in Florida are weak and brief with F0/F1 intensities and not lasting more than 10 minutes. However, there have been many cases when this has not been the case. One exception was the 1998 superoutbreak which featured many strong, long-tracked tornadoes across the state and killed nearly 50 PEOPLE in one night (which is more than have died so far this year)!!! I think sirens in Florida would be very helpful in that type of event. For more info. on the Central Florida outbreak of 98'...refer to these links:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/cntrlfl.pdf

http://www.disastercenter.com/flortorn.htm

Honestly... I don't feel a tornado siren will reduce those numbers a great deal. Furthermore, sirens are not cost effective for the limited amount of lives they save. Personally, I think the focus should be on widespread distribution of weather radios.

[greeng13]

thankyou for the response Extremeweatherguy!

As for the cellars on more point is that many houses in FL have to be either buitl up or built on "stilts" so again the question is where would you put one?? Maybe a "panic room" might work?

[greeng13]

i see your point senorpepr--do you thin that is b/c most cannot hear the sirens or b/c after awhile they become too "commonplace"? (i.e. like the boy who cried wolf or the governor that cried "evacuate" during a possible hurrican strike people tend to start ignoring those warnings)

[conestogo_flood]

Honestly... I don't feel a tornado siren will reduce those numbers a great deal. Furthermore, sirens are not cost effective for the limited amount of lives they save. Personally, I think the focus should be on widespread distribution of weather radios.

People don't take weather radios with them a lot. Tornado sirens are more meant for people who are at city parks, walking downtown, or those people who just don't go inside during storms. It's also a good back-up source if power goes out.

Not everyone thinks like us, most people just don't care about weather radios, and rely on tornado sirens more than ever.

[Extremeweatherguy]

thankyou for the response Extremeweatherguy!

As for the cellars on more point is that many houses in FL have to be either buitl up or built on "stilts" so again the question is where would you put one?? Maybe a "panic room" might work?

Along the coast some homes are built on stilts, but inland they are not. It is impractical though to build basements inland due to the underground aquifer. Overall, basements are just not a good idea in Florida. The panic room idea may be a good option though, but it could also be costly. I think senorpepr's idea to have widespread distribution of weather radios may be the best idea. I know that many Floridians now do own a radio after 1998..but I think everyone should have one. Other programs like NOTIFY can be just as good though.

[greeng13]

What is NOTIFY? i have never heard of it before...

as for the cellars...i grew up in st pete (6th generation Pinellas county!-rare) and have been all over florida (not living just travelling) throughout my life so yes i know that many are built on slabs...i brought this up because you bring up a good point about the underground aquifer

[Tamora Mennenga]

I have been lurking for quite a while, but had a question on this matter.
I just bought a new weather radio. I set up for SAME for the counties around me and set up the different warnings, but there wasn't a setting for tornado warning. Is this an automatic?
It is a public alert wx radio from radio shack. It is a hand held travel radio.
Does anyone have any information?

[brunota2003]

Honestly... I don't feel a tornado siren will reduce those numbers a great deal. Furthermore, sirens are not cost effective for the limited amount of lives they save. Personally, I think the focus should be on widespread distribution of weather radios.

People don't take weather radios with them a lot. Tornado sirens are more meant for people who are at city parks, walking downtown, or those people who just don't go inside during storms. It's also a good back-up source if power goes out.

Not everyone thinks like us, most people just don't care about weather radios, and rely on tornado sirens more than ever.

i take my wx radio everywhere with me on days with severe wx...and i mean EVERYWHERE!!!

[Beam]

Tamora: yes, Tornado Warnings (and usually Severe Thunderstorm Warnings) are automatically turned on in such devices and cannot be turned off, as that defeats the main purpose of owning the radio to begin with.

[senorpepr]

People don't take weather radios with them a lot. Tornado sirens are more meant for people who are at city parks, walking downtown, or those people who just don't go inside during storms. It's also a good back-up source if power goes out.

Not everyone thinks like us, most people just don't care about weather radios, and rely on tornado sirens more than ever.

Many years ago people thought the same thing about smoke alarms. It will take time, but it is education that is critical.

See... unfortunately too many people depend on tornado sirens. That is why the focus should be taken off of them and onto weather radios.

As for tornado sirens being for people outside... that's just crazy. Tornado sirens at that point are worthless if the person is already willing to be outside during a thunderstorm (plus the hail and gusty winds, when applicable) to begin with. As a person who has lived in the central plains for nearly all my life and have been in more tornado warnings than I can count... I don't agree with the idea of tornado sirens. They are a horrible "safety" blanket. Even a 1/2mi away from a siren, they are hard to hear--EVEN OUTSIDE--during a thunderstorm. The rain, the hail, the winds, and the thunder drown out the sound of a siren at distance.

Finally, you make the comment about being a good back-up source if power goes out. I couldn't disagree with you more... of course, with all due respect. As I mentioned before, they are worthless for indoor use as a man trying to breast-feed a baby. Furthermore, nearly all weather radios with an alert function come with a battery back-up. Once again, if the use of weather radios is applied like smoke alarms, we wouldn't worry about power outages. We would replace the batteries in our weather radios and smoke alarms twice a year.

[senorpepr]

To piggy-back on my last comment...

This is a recent personal experience.

Last Thursday the Omaha area had a tornado. That tornado was about 5-6 miles away from where I was working. I work in what many would call a dungeon. Not even AM or FM radio signal can reach where I am at. Granted, as a weather nut professionally and by heart, I knew what was going on, so I walked about a 1/4mi to the door.

First, a mention this to point out that at no time were anyone inside the building notified. This is commonplace of many businesses. Granted, I work at a weather center, but you get my point: people aren't notified inside buildings.

Second, I will point this out: the siren outside (approx 200yd away) was sounding, as were the other sirens across the metro area. This siren is normally VERY loud, but during the hail, the horizontal rain that reduced visibility to 1/8mi, and the 50KT winds, I barely heard the siren.

See... the focus shouldn't be on these sirens, but rather radios and making sure businesses downtown make announcements over the intercom during these events or, even better, having the intercom automatically pick up tornado warnings from NOAA.

[angelwing]

All i have is a weather radio, I always have it on me...living in an apt its the only thing I can rely on., and the only time we had a tornado was about 3 0r 4 years ago, it took the roof off the indutrial complex a half-mile from me...we never get them here and that sound is something I'll never forget!

[greeng13]

could you have heard the weather radio if you could not pick up AM or FM?

[senorpepr]

...and yet another piggy-back

I think radios aren't the only venue to exploit. How many of us have cell phones on us? With the 911 techonology, we can also invest time and money in technology to send local tornado warnings to cell phones.

[senorpepr]

could you have heard the weather radio if you could not pick up AM or FM?

I can't pick up any signal, but my point is... where the intercom is at... they could, but by them not... it left us in the dark.

[greeng13]

...and yet another piggy-back

I think radios aren't the only venue to exploit. How many of us have cell phones on us? With the 911 techonology, we can also invest time and money in technology to send local tornado warnings to cell phones.

good point senorpepr

[Extremeweatherguy]

What is NOTIFY? i have never heard of it before...

as for the cellars...i grew up in st pete (6th generation Pinellas county!-rare) and have been all over florida (not living just travelling) throughout my life so yes i know that many are built on slabs...i brought this up because you bring up a good point about the underground aquifer

NOTIFY is a service you can sign up with through weather.com. The service calls your house (or cell phone) during specified warnings and criteria that you set up for yourself online and it notifies you (hence the name). It is a good service (unless phone lines go out).

[conestogo_flood]

We have a one-call warning system for Woolwich Township. During a flood warning or chemical spill, an auto dialer calls something like 800 homes every 30 seconds with a recorded message. I'm sure that could be used for tornado warnings in the future, as one-call systems are becoming popular.

[simplykristi]

I had it for my email at home. It was really not worth the $50, IMO.

Kristi