HOUSTON – The best way to properly prepare for a severe weather emergency is to be informed of what could happen.
The last tornadoes that ripped through the Houston area caught some of us off guard, especially on the heels of a tumultuous weather year. The idea of having a tornado siren that blares from a tower to encourage residents to shelter-in-place, as a result, might sound appealing — in theory.
Tornado sirens have certainly been a topic of discussion among residents, according to Lance Wood, Science and Operations Officer for National Weather Service (NWS) Houston/Galveston.
“Ever since the tornado emergency that we had back in January 2023, we’ve gotten some questions about sirens,” he said via Zoom. “And I think mainly because the City of Deer Park, actually activated their sirens for that tornado.”
Those sirens, however, are meant for chemical emergencies and some experts argue that having two respective sirens might confuse residents.
To which I pose the question, shouldn’t a shelter-in-place emergency, be treated as a shelter-in-place emergency regardless? But considering the modern and technological world we live in, a tower seems obsolete — and expensive.
“I imagine it’s very expensive and they have a limited range,” Wood explained. “You have to have multiple sirens; you have to maintain it; you have to test it; you have to do some outreach to people to know that it’s there and why it’s going off.”
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“The majority of people have other ways to get warning information and personalized to them with your phone in particular,” he continued. “You also have to look at the frequency that we get the kind of tornadoes that you really want this, you’re not going to want this going off maybe for the weakest of tornadoes and we get a lot of weak tornadoes.”
Regardless of what city managers or experts will decide going forward, the only thing that remains certain is Houston residents need to remain “weather aware.” That involves tuning in to KPRC 2 TV, going to our website: Click2Houston.com, and making sure you have our Storm Tracker app.
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Our weather team works hard and communicates actively with folks like Lance Wood and the National Weather Service. I know it’s tough because Houston has a lot to offer and the severe weather can throw a wrench in things, but we still want you to be safe and protected.
When Mother Nature decides to do its thing, we will be your sirens.