Tornado Warnings and Sirens (Atlanta, Scottdale: houses, neighborhood, to buy)

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

The $30 Midland radio at Kroger will only go off for Severe T-storm watches/warnings or Tornado watches/warnings, and can be programmed for your county. We've never had an Amber alert set it off (assuming you're talking about the child abduction alerts, not the amber light that comes on for watches).

Right. Some of the newer models have civil emergency alerts, including fires, explosions, chemical spills, Amber alerts.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by btard

Outdoor sirens are made to be heard by folks outdoors, who are away from tv & radio. You have to take proactive steps when you're indoors (weather radio, monitor tv, etc).

I wasn't feeling well last night so I retired early, and the storm sirens woke me up! I think we can hear three different sirens from inside our house. Can't hear the trains nearby, though.

[Mattie]

The sirens go off after the weather service issues a warning, correct? They don't actually mean a tornado has been spotted in the area? What type of info do the emergency radios give that might be different from the tv, or radio alerts?

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Mattie

The sirens go off after the weather service issues a warning, correct? They don't actually mean a tornado has been spotted in the area? What type of info do the emergency radios give that might be different from the tv, or radio alerts?

If the NWS issues a tornado warning, then the sirens go off. A tornado warning means one has been sighted or is visible on doppler and is probably headed in that direction.

The radios do have a volume control. I have the Midland that I bought last year at Kroger.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Mattie

The sirens go off after the weather service issues a warning, correct? They don't actually mean a tornado has been spotted in the area? What type of info do the emergency radios give that might be different from the tv, or radio alerts?

Cobb County seems to sound the sirens for tornadoes and when any potentially severe storms enter the county (wind, hail, etc.).

When I hear the siren, I turn the TV on or use my web tablet to get more info, and this last episode shows storms marching both five miles north and five miles south of us but not much actually in our local area. It's nice to be alerted, though.

We have two weather radios as well, but I'll only use those if the power is out.

[Mattie]

Originally Posted by neil0311

If the NWS issues a tornado warning, then the sirens go off. A tornado warning means one has been sighted or is visible on doppler and is probably headed in that direction.

The radios do have a volume control. I have the Midland that I bought last year at Kroger.

Our sirens went off last night. We turned on the TV, and watched the progress of the storm. The weather person named roads, such as Arnold Mill, which is 2 miles from us, but, since the road is long, it could have been 10 miles away. Would the emergency radio be more concise as to location, or is it just the same info we are seeing on the TV screen? I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth getting one. Obviously if the power went out, a radio would be useful, but we have some battery powered radios around the house already.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Cobb County seems to sound the sirens for tornadoes and when any potentially severe storms enter the county (wind, hail, etc.).

On the plus side, some of Cobb's sirens (like the one near my house) actually has a speaker on it. When the siren goes off for a couple of minutes, you then hear an announcement telling you why it's going off. I live one block from it, so can hear it from most points in my house (though I'd hate to be the next door neighbors to it).

The BAD thing though, is that Cobb's sirens are interlinked. Let's say a tornado is spotted North of Kennesaw (like last night) - the sirens in Powder Springs, 15 miles South, will go off, too. You'd think with computer technology the way it is, they'd have a better way of setting off sirens just in affected areas and not county-wide when stuff hits. Oh well. Better than not having them.

[RainyRainyDay]

We live in the vicinity of GA 92 and Sandy Plains, near the NE corner of Cobb. There was impressive tornado damage only a mile from our home, a couple of years ago, and if today's AJC coverage is right, some of last night's damage would have to be within 5 miles. Tornadoes are now seeming a little too real to me.

According to FEMA, we're actually in a high-risk area: FEMA: Are You Ready?. I don't want to rely on hearing the distant sirens in the middle of the night any more. We'll buy a weather radio - or probably two, one for our bedroom upstairs, and one for the basement retreat location.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

The BAD thing though, is that Cobb's sirens are interlinked. Let's say a tornado is spotted North of Kennesaw (like last night) - the sirens in Powder Springs, 15 miles South, will go off, too. You'd think with computer technology the way it is, they'd have a better way of setting off sirens just in affected areas and not county-wide when stuff hits. Oh well. Better than not having them.

Yeah, they issued another warning at around 1am that included Cobb, so the WX radio and the sirens went off. I turned on the TV to see if I needed to get the kids and wife and take cover, and the storm and suspected tornado was in South Fulton and was only going to maybe graze the edge of Cobb near Six Flags.

I guess better safe than sorry, but that probably cost me 2 hours of sleep.

[billl]

Selecting the alerts by county isn't fine grained enough, at least not for folks in Fulton. We had two tornado warnings last night. One for North Fulton where we live (that was the Woodstock storm which caused alerts in Cobb, Cherokee, and Borth Fulton) and one for a storm down in South Fulton, about 40 miles from us. Now if they re-formed Milton county, this problem would go away.

As for Comcast cable's emergency alert system: I appreciate getting the warnings on my TV, really I do. But it is very frustrating when they override the audio while I am watching (and listening to) a local meteorologist tell me about the storm! It kind of defeats the purpose of having the alert system. "Watch weather coverage NOW....but only after we are done with this 3-minute alert."