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April 14th, 2012 Plains High Risk


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Ugh. I hate to hear we didn't get out of this without fatalities... especially from such a quick-developing cell within a broken line... but it could have been SO much worse. If the death toll stands at four, while that's four more than it should have been, it's a lot better than the March 2 outbreak which killed ten times that amount. I'm sure the much lessened death toll comes from this outbreak occurring in an area much more accustomed to frequent tornado activity... and our only known fatalities so far came from a sneaky short-warning quick-developing rapid-moving after-dark cell that pulsed up rapidly heading into Woodward. That'll cause fatalities in even the most weather aware parts of the country. Here's hoping morning light won't be revealing any more bodies out there. :<

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Hmmm...only a handful of deaths with this outbreak? Perhaps there's nothing wrong with the warning system after all. I wonder if the media will showcase that angle for days on end? lolz

Apparently there was a "the town had no warning" quote from an EM this morning. I think it was in refrence to the sirens not working.

Doesn't matter, shouldn't matter.

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Apparently there was a "the town had no warning" quote from an EM this morning. I think it was in refrence to the sirens not working.

Doesn't matter, shouldn't matter.

Well, they'll have that. The siren system is a joke anyway. No rhyme or reason to them going off depending on the municipality, EM philosophy, etc. If there could be a standardization implemented somehow, nationwide, then there could be some benefit I suppose.

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Well, they'll have that. The siren system is a joke anyway. No rhyme or reason to them going off depending on the municipality, EM philosophy, etc. If there could be a standardization implemented somehow, nationwide, then there could be some benefit I suppose.

Does that really matter though? If you live in the same town for 20 years you'll probably know what that philosophy or standard is. Who cares what the next county or state does.

The biggest danger is people relying on the siren as their only means of warning. When they go down (like they apparently did in Woodward) you're screwed.

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Hmmm...only a handful of deaths with this outbreak? Perhaps there's nothing wrong with the warning system after all. I wonder if the media will showcase that angle for days on end? lolz

Most of the stronger tornadoes just chewed up topsoil and farmland. That was the main factor, along with the folks in the Wichita mobile home park being in a storm shelter at the right time.

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Does that really matter though? If you live in the same town for 20 years you'll probably know what that philosophy or standard is. Who cares what the next county or state does.

The biggest danger is people relying on the siren as their only means of warning. When they go down (like they apparently did in Woodward) you're screwed.

What if you're new to the town? What about the sirens going off in towns/cities for non-meteorological reasons? Chem spills, etc? For bigger towns...there are not enough sirens and they will not wake most people up in the middle of the night. Folks hear sirens all the time and they are said to take them with a grain of salt. Unless they come up with a sophisticated national standard that only goes off for tornadoes moving into a populated area, the siren network will do little good.

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Does that really matter though? If you live in the same town for 20 years you'll probably know what that philosophy or standard is. Who cares what the next county or state does.

The biggest danger is people relying on the siren as their only means of warning. When they go down (like they apparently did in Woodward) you're screwed.

I agree with Isohume...what he is saying is poorly implemented warning plans are the problem...not necessarily "consistency" among regions. In Eagan, MN where my sister lives...they set off the sirens for Tornado AND Tstorm warnings, for instance. She even admits they generally ignore the sirens now too. Talking with some of the EM's out here in western Nebraska in the small rural towns, some will only issue the sirens for confirmed tors on the ground while others issue based solely on tor warnings. The public, unfortunately, is not well informed on the protocol for setting off the sirens in most regions.

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I agree with Isohume...what he is saying is poorly implemented warning plans are the problem...not necessarily "consistency" among regions. In Eagan, MN where my sister lives...they set off the sirens for Tornado AND Tstorm warnings, for instance. She even admits they generally ignore the sirens now too. Talking with some of the EM's out here in western Nebraska in the small rural towns, some will only issue the sirens for confirmed tors on the ground while others issue based solely on tor warnings. The public, unfortunately, is not well informed on the protocol for setting off the sirens in most regions.

Yeah but that's a different issue from lack of consistency among different jurisdictions.

I agree that a system that limits false alarms is really the only way to go.

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Yeah but that's a different issue from lack of consistency among different jurisdictions.

I agree that a system that limits false alarms is really the only way to go.

A cell based system would reach so many more people than NOAA radio and sirens combined. I refuse to belive the technology isn't there to push out polygon based warnings to cell subsribers. There are more cell phones active in America than there is people.

Some people will refuse to be informed. Even with the cell system of course there would be those that ignore the warnings, or have no situational awareness before hand. To be blunt, there has to be a point you cut your losses.

Another old topic for another thread I suppose.

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A cell based system would reach so many more people than NOAA radio and sirens combined. I refuse to belive the technology isn't there to push out polygon based warnings to cell subsribers. There are more cell phones active in America than there is people.

Some people will refuse to be informed. Even with the cell system of course there would be those that ignore the warnings, or have no situational awareness before hand. To be blunt, there has to be a point you cut your losses.

Another old topic for another thread I suppose.

There are cell phone providers but people have to *gasp* pay for them and not rely on someone else to warn them.

http://www.weathercall.net/

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From a friend in Iowa - re: Creston tornado

Yep our hospital took a pretty bad hit. Can't even describe the scene out there last night. My mom works at an independent living facility owned by the hospital (located just south of hospital). I took her out to check on residents last night. Cops & blockades everywhere...only letting hospital employees through or we wouldn't have gotten through. The back parking lot was a sea of flashing lights. Took some pics but they don't begin to do it justice. Took all patients to 2 nearby towns but also heard they took some to college in town. College was also hit and so was our elementary/middle school (which is only about 7 years old). No school Monday. Most of town is still without power. We never lost it thankfully. My mom still doesn't have it this morning. They are showing daylight pics on KCCI and it's much worse than thought last night. Couple duplexes and some homes right near hospital are very bad. Thankfully haven't heard of any injuiries or deaths.

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incredible video!

what camera did you use? (i am going on a chase later in May)

It was awesome, watched the tornado come basically right at me, then it jogged a little more north to miss me, then started heading northeast again.

just a crappy 8.1 megapixel, 4x zoom-which wasnt used- $50 camera from 3 years ago lol (didnt have money to get a new camera for this trip)

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What if you're new to the town? What about the sirens going off in towns/cities for non-meteorological reasons? Chem spills, etc? For bigger towns...there are not enough sirens and they will not wake most people up in the middle of the night. Folks hear sirens all the time and they are said to take them with a grain of salt. Unless they come up with a sophisticated national standard that only goes off for tornadoes moving into a populated area, the siren network will do little good.

I never hear the sirens and live a quarter mile from the capitol building of Wisconsin, and we've definitely had tornado warnings and tests. Kinda ridiculous how bad the siren system is, but who needs it when you have radar.

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