Posted on 05/24/2011 11:14:08 PM PDT by kingu
Probably no tornado sirens since the community has a population less than 300. The area is mountainous, rural, and the whole county has less than 18,000 population. Folks living in such areas (like me) learn to rely on NOAA weather radio alerts, watch the local tv coverage, and listen to battery powered radios turned to local FM stations that channel live weather coverage on local tv channels as we hunker down in our storm cellars and shelters. Smart phones with internet access where you can access local tv live interactive weather radars to watch conditions for yourself in real time have been a real Godsend, in that we don’t have to rely on what we’re being told (or not told) on tv and radio.
Prayers up for all.
That pilot/broadcaster was a true professional. I was feeling for him a bit when he had to take a minute to compose himself. That fellah had see a lot of bad sh!t in a very shot span of time. Kudos to him.
Thanks for the info. I suspect that, givent he time, early in the morning that the tornado hit, 99% of the population was sound asleep, so all those things you mentiond wouldn’t have dome much good. Maybe the states in the tornado belt need to re-examin the idea of putting the warning sirens in small towns..they can be activated by the extreme weather centers..woudl seem to be a small cost for potentially a large benefit..
A NOAA weather radio set to ‘alert’ with the volume turned up and set on the nightstand next to the bed will raise the dead when the warning siren goes off. Most folks just won’t spend the $25 to buy one or discipline themselves to turn it on and get it set before they go to bed.
OK..thanks..didn’t know that..
Denning is just outside of Fort Smith and south of Fayetteville (home of Razorbacks/University of Ark) so they get good weather coverage as do most Arkansans. It's not like we live in never never land as some people think.
It doesn't matter how much warning you get if a tornado takes a direct hit on your location unless you pack up and leave. And at midnight most people are sleeping and getting ready to work the next day.
I know you’re right, in general, about the weather reporting from the OKC stations, but the live streaming from KFOR yesterday afternoon was embarrassing.
Every one on air, except the non-weather news guy, sounded like we were being attacked by aliens and it was the end of the world. They were panicked, kept repeating themselves, and had lots of fear in their voices.
Like I said, embarrassing.
As soon as one of the storms got close enough to my neck of the woods, I turned on my TV to one of the Tulsa stations. Like day and night, the difference in reporting. Every one was calm and reasonably relaxed. Yeah, they talked fast and delivered a lot of information, but they never sounded panicked in any way.
You can't hear the sirens with 120-200 mph winds, hail and rain (& debris)coming at you. I don't care where you are. That is what happened in OK on Sunday. People couldn't hear the sirens until it was too late.
“I was originally from the Oklahoma City area, and the stations there are TOP NOTCH”
Moved back home. Only kidding. I agree with your assessment of TV in FSM; the stations are much more interested in selling Dodge trucks or whatever than on reporting weather news and alerting residents of impending storms, etc. (FSM native who moved away years ago)...
Small radio stations, especially AM ones, are barely able to keep the transmitter powered these days. Small business revenues have almost dried up. No staff budget for news people esp. on the overnight. No budget to pay the AP and keep a newswire service active.
Blame it on the dictator that has designed this mess.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had that observation. I listened to their live stream for a while on the net yesterday and I thought the guy on tv was the biggest drama queen weathercaster I've ever seen.
Wow.
Prayers up over here in Oregon.
Man, and people thing we are crazy for living near a couple active volcanoes and a few earthquakes.
Within 72 hours, devestating tornadoes kill over 90 people -- which is rare, when so many people die.
COINCIDENCE?
Automatic alert system turns on in event of dangerous weather or civil emergencies
Broadcasts all hazards alert weather brought to you by NOAA for around-the-clock severe weather information
$19.36
Worth the money...
These wx radios are only as good as the people behind them, running the service. The people running these NWS are govt staffers, mostly federal. I wouldn’t place my family’s life or put much faith in their hands. Just another false security device.
Let the counties and locals run the emerg alert systems and I’d feel much safer.
And therein lies a problem, IMO. I think way too many people have conditioned themselves to think the tornado sirens are going to save them in time to take action, so they don't pay attention to weather conditions and abdicate using their own senses to determine if weather conditions are getting dangerous. Too many folks have become Pavlov's dog and have conditioned themselves to not be concerned with tornadic conditions and so they go about their business and don't pay any attention to what's developing until the sirens tell them it's time to take cover. If they don't hear the sirens like you said, well, too late for them to take action.
People need to quit soley relying on the sirens to tell them when it's time to get to a safe location and take some personal responsibility to ensure their own family's safety. I'm not knocking the sirens, I'm knocking people willingness to rely on someone else to tell them when there is danger and that they need to take action.
I didn't know that any Westboro members were welcome on this site. Do you protest at the funerals of service members too? I'm sorry, this is probably the most offensive (though oft repeated) thing I see on FreeRepublic. Some disaster happens and the claim is that this is God's punishment for something Obama did. God's retribution is direct, dramatic, and directed at those who have offended.
Exactly. When we see the weather getting bad the first thing we do is turn on the weather. Then we keep an eye out for ourselves and follow what is happening around the country.
I think you’re right.
Not coincidence.
There’s been a list of such compiled into a book. Don’t recall the name of it.
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