Check in with anyone in Missouri / Midwest

[ksinger]

Also from Indiana. The sirens went off at 2 different times. Nothing was happening, seemed like a normal day. Later hubby and I were sitting in the backyard when it started to get cloudy and cool. I went in....soon after he comes in and says should go to the basement. After 10 minutes we went back up. I guess we had some severe winds, because our power was out and there was tree branches and what not all over the yard and our block. Some of our tree limbs are hanging. I wonder why they didn't sound off the siren then. I know the day they test it, so I don't get worried. But often I hear it going off. What is that about? Can some tell my that happens?

Oh and I got the NOAA radio within 1 week upon moving here,

Honestly, it sounds like the people in charge of your sirens are incompetent, but I can't know for sure, not knowing what exactly was going on at that moment. But still, the thing I keep hearing is that the sirens go off not at all or ALL the time. Yeah, what IS up with that? Our siren system - which is quite extensive and up-to-date, goes off at noon every Saturday for a full minute. It's ghastly if you happen to be UNDER one - those suckers are LOUD. But other than that, if you hear a siren, you'd better get thee to the TV or radio...or look UP!

I know I have complained that they blow sirens all over the county for a tornado that is east or south. I think they're responding now to public pressure and NOT doing that so much - they really went nutso with it after May 3rd. No need to upset the people west of the storm and cuts down on desensitizing people to the warnings. But really, the final responsibility falls on the individual, who has to know that this stuff can happen and be alert.

One of the large Oklahoma tornadoes looked like it was tracking directly for us at one point, but then went north and missed us. All the weatherguys were giving these broad areas to "take your weather precautions!", but we could see on radar that there wasn't a chance that it could hit us, so we stayed. But that comes from a lifetime of making those calls - if I'd been an Oklahoma newbie, I might have panicked. I DON'T like how they do that around here, but I guess they have to err on the side of safety, especially for those who don't yet have the long experience to judge a bit for themselves.

 

[ksinger]

Interesting article about how this season stacks up:

http://blogs.forbes.com/patrickmichaels/2011/05/26/the-great-tornadoes-of-2011-put-in-perspective/

excerpt:

Several factors contributed to this year’s horrible figures. One is general awareness. Neither Joplin nor north central Alabama are as tornado-prone as the Oklahoma-Texas “tornado alley.” The tornado drill just isn’t high up on today’s to-do list.

In 1999 Oklahoma City experienced an extreme F5 tornado–and the most powerful one in that class that has ever been measured–that barreled a long path through much of its suburban sprawl. Death toll: 36.

Oklahoma City is tornado-nuts, as well it should be. The National Severe Storm Laboratory, which does a lot of field research, is located there for a very good reason. Television stations compete in storm tracking and many of them have their own Doppler radars. In the absence of modern technology and hyper-awareness, that storm could have easily killed a thousand.

Tuscaloosa and Joplin, while hardly tornado-free, are a ways off the usual major axis of destruction. Joplin is also very close to the Ozarks, whose rough surface clearly makes the state of Missouri an island in the annual tornado tsunami. No one in either city is constantly worrying about having their home pulverized like they do in Oklahoma City every time the dewpoint gets above 75 degrees.

The bad news is that we have yet to succeed in preventing large numbers of fatalities in built-up areas away from the tornado culture when an F5 shows up. But the remarkable and good news is that we have cut the frequency of tornado fatalities, in deaths per million population, by at least fourfold in the past century.