warning sirens activation......

[jinftl]

That would make Boca the only city in america where the top reaction to the siren was to have the nanny or maid look into it and 'make it stop'.



(I work in Boca and have family and friends there so i say this only in jest....)

Just thought I would put in my 2 cents. I have firsthand witnessed that results of "over activating" sirens. Denver is quite a large county, probably close to 30 miles from SW corner to the Airport. The airport sticks off in the middle of the plains while the rest of Denver is generally tornado free, particularly the part of the county west of I-25(not a rule, but a generality). At least twice this summer I have sirens go off in my neighborhood when it was COMPLETELY sunny, and the tornadic cell was near DIA 20 miles away, moving AWAY from Denver. I guess there isnt anything wrong with county wide sirens, other than people in downtown or on the west side of the county probably have a sense of complacency anyway. I was in Target during one of them and people were standing around the parking lot looking around and listening the sirens wondering where the tornado was. It was a little comical.

[vbhoutex]

Just thought I would put in my 2 cents. I have firsthand witnessed that results of "over activating" sirens. Denver is quite a large county, probably close to 30 miles from SW corner to the Airport. The airport sticks off in the middle of the plains while the rest of Denver is generally tornado free, particularly the part of the county west of I-25(not a rule, but a generality). At least twice this summer I have sirens go off in my neighborhood when it was COMPLETELY sunny, and the tornadic cell was near DIA 20 miles away, moving AWAY from Denver. I guess there isnt anything wrong with county wide sirens, other than people in downtown or on the west side of the county probably have a sense of complacency anyway. I was in Target during one of them and people were standing around the parking lot looking around and listening the sirens wondering where the tornado was. It was a little comical.

The first time I arrived in Houston MANY years ago they had a noon siren that went off every Friday. The first time I heard it I freaked because I thought it was an air raid siren(which it probably originally was) and my new friends thought it was funny. Those sirens are long gone and we have no warning system other than TV and weather radios here in Harris County, which I think is probably bigger than Denver County. It is a full 50 miles from the SW side of the county to IAH in North Harris County and at least 70 miles across the middle of the county from Katy, TX to the East of Baytown, TX where the East county line is. We often have severe storms 25-30 miles away and until they recently went to the upgraded warning of portions of a county we would get warnings and like stated above have clear skies and bright sun. I do wish there was a targeted public warning system, but that seems like it could be very prohibitive to develop and the first time it was used "incorrectly" the whiners and naysayers would come out of the woodwork. I say screw them and better safe than sorry.

[PTPatrick]

Yeah, i dont mean to fault them, but it is just a little funny. I would rather them be safe than sorry. I could maybe see where they should try seperating the siren activation for old Denver county(a fairly square/roundish) area, and new Denver (the area that sticks off like a finger) I say this because I KNOW that the NWS does it for Adams and Arapahoe counties. Both are extremely LONG counties east to west that flank Denver to the north and south(denver was originally part of Arapahoe county I think). They extend from the relatively rain shadowed and protected areas up against the Foothills, to wide open expanse of Tornado Alley, about 80+ miles end to end. I highly doubt the sirens in Thornton go off when their is a warning at the eastern end of adams county near Comanche. Ultimately, its NOT a big deal and I would much rather have a false warning than none at all, but I still wonder if the general public loses respect for the sirens when they go off with no real threat.

[Dionne]

The sirens activated earlier this week. A long blast.....like a full minute. Our community water failed. It wasn't difficult to figure out what the warning was for......the weather was nice. Our supply lines are very old. Ruptures are common. The warning was a boil water alert.

[MGC]

I've only been freaked once by the sirens. I was driving on Hickam AFB in Hawaii on my way to the exchange back in the 80's. I had just gotten to Hawaii a few days before. I hear the sirens and start thinking air raid! Turns out is was just a test.....MGC