The objective is to create a uniform standard across the region where none exists now. The adoption of the procedures by three of Southwest Missouri’s largest communities already has spurred other communities, such as Carthage, Bolivar, Pierce City and Monett, to participate in the guidelines.
The new procedures were unveiled during a news conference on Wednesday at the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management. Officials from the communities and representatives of the National Weather Service forecast office at Springfield were on hand for the announcement.
Doug Cramer, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the guidelines were crafted over 10 months by the Ozarks Integrated Warning Team to eliminate confusion. The need for them became apparent after the tornadoes that struck Joplin and Branson.
“The goal of this initiative is to ensure residents who live in the Ozarks understand exactly what it means when the sirens are activated,’’ Cramer said.
The procedures are not unlike those that were adopted by Joplin after it experienced an EF-5 tornado on May 22, 2011. But some things are different.
The sirens are to be activated when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning or when a trained spotter reports rotation, a funnel cloud or a tornado. The sirens also will be activated when the National Weather Service issues a warning about a thunderstorm that is producing life-threatening winds. The sirens also will be sounded when a trained spotter reports life-threatening winds. Usually, life-threatening winds are in the neighborhood of 75 mph. That is the policy that was adopted by Joplin after its tornado.
When the sirens are activated, they will sound for three minutes. Since sirens can overheat, they will then be allowed to cool for three minutes before they are activated again. That cycle, with its three-minute intervals, will continue until the threat has passed. In the past, Joplin typically would sound its sirens only once with each threat. No all-clear siren will be sounded.
A person who hears a siren should to get inside a sturdy building as quickly as possible and seek shelter at the lowest interior level possible.
Siren testing will change under the new procedures. The sirens will be tested at 10 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. The sirens will be activated for three minutes. Joplin in the past tested its sirens for only one minute and at a different time and day of the month. The sirens will not be tested if skies are overcast, thunderstorms are predicted or in freezing weather. If sirens are not tested at the regular test date and time, there will be no makeup test. The first test in Joplin will be on March 11.
“I’m amazed at this unprecedented effort in putting aside pride and working together to develop a standardized plan,” Cramer said. “This teamwork will be instrumental in saving lives during future storms.”
‘Hammer in Toolbox’
The panel of emergency management officials was asked whether sirens are still an effective way to warn people now that smartphone applications can alert the public wherever people are.
Keith Stammer, head of Joplin-Jasper County Emergency Management, said, “We have several tools that we can use to warn the public. I look at our sirens as the hammer in our tool box. People listen to them more so than anything else.’’
©2015 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
