Is it too expensive and inefficient for Florida to add Tornado Sirens, or would it save lives?

Question

Florida government insists that warning sirens would have made little or no difference in the death toll of the February 2 tornadoes in the Central Florida area, which killed at least 20 people, because of tight building construction, and the sirens outdoor nature.

Furthermore the claim is made that since they do not exist the expense would not justify the means.

Considering that these were nocturnal tornadoes, do you think they are correct (that sirens would make no difference), or were the fatalities due to the fact that twisters occurred at night?

Also do you live in an area with outdoor warning sirens, and whether or not you do, do you think education would increase citizen purchase of weather radios?

Answer 1

As a meteorologist this is the rule of thumb I would suggest for residents of Florida and for that matter anywhere tornadoes have been known to strike be they nocturnal or not and that is - listen to the news and watch the newspapers for thunderstorm possibilities in your neighborhood. Why is that? Because (1) Tstorms are much easier to forecast and (2) it is from Tstorms that tornadoes develop.

If people hear that thunderstorms are likely in their home town they should treat this information seriously and think about when the storms will hit and what precautions they should take during that period of time.

Finally, I believe having a weather radio available to turn on just before the storms are forecast to arrive should give you any info on existing tornado watch areas. But again even if there are no boxes one should continue to take care with all thunderstorm occurances.

Tornadoes are not treated physically nor mathematically like other weather systems there are no time dependent differential set of equations which when solved will give a forecast for their development. Tornado forecasting is an art. These storms in Florida were a rare occurance but not that rare. All tornadoes need to form are a warm moist unstable flow of air normally from the south and near the surface with some lifting mechanism like a thunderstorm and a strong dry westerly wind aloft which can initiate the cyclonic circulation on a small scale within an existing thunderstorm complex and voila they are off and running.

Sirens, finally, would make a difference but I for one agree with those who have argued against them. I believe the suggestions I have made above could go just as well at saving lives. Thanks for this provocative question. Hope I've given you something to think about here.

Answer 2

Well, it is my personal opinion that while I agree somewhat that the use of said sirens during a nocturnal event has limiting results, I firmly disagree with the stance that said sirens would have “have made little or no difference in the death toll”.

Now let’s sit back and analyze the term Difference or the Little. In this case, does the Difference or Little mean there is not a value on just one life saved? Would it be that such a bench mark would have to state say, a minimum of 5 lives saved to make said sirens worth the “money”?

The statement that was made within the great state of Florida that since said sirens did not exist, said expense would not justify the means. Hmmm, if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there….

There are some solid and positive steps that can be brought forth to assist in the protection of lives during any violent storm, be it tornadic or not.

The first being public awareness. The public must simply be aware of the threats that can and do occur in their locality.

Preparedness. The word covers a lot of ground. Life in a Mobil home? – Move. Can’t move? – Get out and seek solid shelter. The mobile home community does not have such a shelter? – Build one. States, Counties, Communities that have the opportunities for severe weather need to legislate that all mobile home communities have an adequate storm shelter available for the number of residents in that community. All mobile homes and said comminutes need to legislate that each mobile home is equipped with a weather radio!

I know, some people take the battery out of the smoke alarm, so the same non use could happen with a weather radio.

That all said, with just those few things in place, would we still loose lives? I’m afraid so. Yet I view as the more substance and knowledge you can place between you and the threat the better your chance are.

Come on Florida, wake up and smell the coffee!

db

Answer 3

Sirens are only real affective if they are in areas where there is a high density of people living, homes business etc.
I would suspect that some of the town/cities/mobile home parks
in FL would of benfited from sirens being place in or near them.
But many times sirens are too few and far apart to awaken
people from a sleep.

Reverse 911 would of worked better in many cases.
All Hazards radios would of also helped a great deal.
Most folks have a cell phone, why not have warnings like these sent to said phones?

So many useful tools, yet people still go through life with
no way of being warned of danger.

In the end it is up to the individual to protect themselves. Cheap
inexpensive weather radios should be required for residences in communities wear tornadoes occur with some frequency and do not have a siren near them and for sure in moble home residences. Make the purchase of such radios a tax deduction and tax free on purchase.

Public education should be ongoing but in the end you can not
make a person smarter and wiser. That they must do on their own.

Answer 4

As a Florida native, I can touch a little on the fact that it seems to be that in order for anyone here to do anything when it comes to disaster, people have to die first. Whether it be incorrectly forecasting a hurricane, or even afternoon t-storms in the summer, it's amazing how many tornadoes occur globally. Yes, weather forecasting is an art, but too many people dont heed to weather reports here because there have been too many problems in the forecasting in general here. Lets face it, who can ever presisely predict what mother nature is going to do?
Back to the sirens, I think it is an insult of intelligence to do this after the fact that 20 people are no longer here to give their opinions, if forecasters here in florida knew for a second that central florida is prone to nasty tornado incidents, then why was'nt something done before that night? Think about this for a second, like hurricane katrina, hurricane andrew, and any other devastating weather event, why do we always have to learn the hard way? With all this technology, if ANY city in this world is prone to supercells, count on the chances for deadly tornadoes at some point in time. That is a fact that is getting pushed under the rug, and though I am not specifically pointing my finger in someone's face, it's just using common sense.

Answer 5

I was in North Carolina, (Weldon County) in 1955 when Hurricaine Hazle hit. Hey, we had hazardous warning sirens then. Didn't help a bit. You need those radios and a firm grasp of the fact that when the sirens go off, you better be so far away that you need to receive a letter to know that.

Answer 6

I think they should either put up the sirens or make it mandatory that everyone have weather alert radios. How much is too much when it comes to saving lives? Noturnal events are not one time things, they can and will happen again. Whatever the costs, they are worth it.

Answer 7

it would save lives, but the people would see the tornado....and the siren only goes out 5 mins b4 the sighting in the nearest town like 2 mins away....

Answer 8

Florida doesn't have tornado sirens? Wow, I thought Oklahoma was backwoods. How do you know when to go outside and take a look? O.K. we are backwoods.

Sirens save lives, ask anyone in Oklahoma.

Answer 9

it would save lives, but the people would see the tornado....and the siren only goes out 5 mins b4 the sighting in the nearest town like 2 mins away....

Answer 10

i don't think that they need tonado sirens in southern florida because it mostly hurricanes that hit there and in north florida and central florida they would need about 1-3 sirens depending on how big the county is..