New System Can Regionalize Tornado Sirens
by: Dion Lefler
Source: The Wichita Eagle. Monday, May 20, 2002
When it comes to severe weather warnings, is it better to be smart or loud?
Mike Smith would tell you it's best to be both.
Smith's company, Wichita-based WeatherData Inc., has developed "SelectWarn," a new system to enable meteorologists to warn people who are in the path of a dangerous storm and leave everyone else alone.
Such warnings could be accomplished by selectively signaling tornado sirens or weather-radio-type devices in the threatened area, he said.
"It cuts down on the 'crying wolf,' " Smith said.
It's a capability that doesn't exist right now in most counties, Sedgwick included. When warning sirens are activated here, "all of them go off, or none of them go off," Smith said.
He said that causes two problems:
- Repeated false alarms train people to ignore the warning, thinking that the problem is elsewhere.
- Businesses unnecessarily lose customers who clear out because there's a warning but no real threat.
The heart of the SelectWarn system is a computer program that links with National Weather Service radar to automatically show the location and path of threatening storms.
The system will automatically switch on sirens and other warning devices in the zone where the Weather Service has identified the danger, Smith said.
In addition, emergency managers can identify other areas where they think the warning should go out, and activate those sirens simply by drawing a circle on a computer screen and pressing a button, Smith said.
For flood warnings, the system could be used in conjunction with automated gates to block dangerous stream crossings, he said.
The system has given WeatherData its first patent, he said.
Sedgwick County emergency management director Randy Duncan has asked to have the system included in his budget, but the County Commission probably will reject the request, officials said.
The big problem is cost.
The SelectWarn software itself costs only $35,000. But at present, the county does not have the capability to sound individual sirens while leaving the rest of the system silent.
Upgrading the siren system to use SelectWarn would cost about $600,000, officials said.
County Manager William Buchanan and County Commission Chairman Ben Sciortin o said they'd be hard-pressed to recommend a major siren upgrade in a year when the county likely will face reduced funding from the state and have to consider cuts in basic services such as in-home care for the disabled.
"We need to really look at priorities and make sure we spend on what's essential," Sciortino said.
In addition, Buchanan said that in this media-saturated age, he doesn't think sirens are as big a part of the warning system as they once were.
"Sirens play an important role, but a diminishing role, in how we warn people about tornadoes," Buchanan said. Most people in Kansas, even those who have been here only a short time, can recognize ominous weather and know to turn on the television or radio, he said.
Smith said in his view, active warning systems such as sirens and personal warning devices will continue to be an important part of the system.
"People have to know when to go turn on the TV, especially in the middle of the night," he said.
For example, in the early morning hours of April 18, four people were killed by tornadoes when a deadly storm system cut a path from Marble Hill, Mo., to Providence, Ky., he said. In Sedgwick County, much of the population lives close enough to tornado sirens to be awakened by them, he said.
Smith said that he's far from discouraged about selling the system even though his business's home county doesn't appear to be interested right now. He said the company is in negotiations with five other counties in three states.
Reach Dion Lefler at 268-6527.
THE WICHITA EAGLE
Copyright (c) 2002, The Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Co.
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