After tornado sirens were activated twice in Wayland in anticipation of severe thunderstorms with high winds moving through Allegan County during the last week of August, Wayland City Council members said it left residents confused as to why it was sounded.
“I’d like some clarification because people were looking to me for answers,” said council member Lisa Banas at the Tuesday, Sept. 4, council meeting. “What we consider to be a tornado siren now goes off when there is a 60 mph wind?”
Wayland police chief Steve Harper who is also a member of the 911 Policy Board said the sirens are not tornado sirens but outdoor warning sirens that are also used for damaging winds and hazardous material release.
“If you hear a warning siren, it is being sounded for you to seek shelter and turn on your local news for further information on what prompted it,” he said.
Harper said according to the National Weather Service, at 60 mph winds, conditions are right for turbulence and funnel clouds.”
He further explained that when the severe weather alert system was established (about 42 years ago) the county was more rural and it was to alert farmers to come in from the fields.
Today, 32 warning sirens are in place for approximately 34,941 homes and a population of 79,754. The sirens are remotely set off by Allegan County Central Dispatch and can be limited to quadrants (NE, NW, SE, SW), by township or all of the above.
“The problem with the last siren that went off was there was a wide swath from South Haven up through Holland with 60-plus mile winds moving fast and there were only a few minutes to decide,” Harper said. “Over here we didn’t get much, but over there they did.”
He said in Ottawa County the protocol is to activate the outdoor warning sirens when storms are producing 70 mph winds. Allegan County is seeking to address that change (from 60 mph to 70 mph), he said.
Council member Rick Mathis said emergency management did themselves a disservice by not telling everybody ahead of time about a policy change for activating the sirens.
“My whole life it has been a tornado siren,” he said.
However, Harper said it was never a policy change.
“Everyone equates it to a tornado siren because that’s what we use if for,” Harper said. “But it’s an outdoor warning siren.”
Mayor Tim Bala asked if the siren pattern sounds differently for a tornado than for straight line winds and if the siren is activated for a tornado watch. Harper said the siren is the same, being activated for 3-minutes, but not activated for a tornado watch unless the conditions are accompanied by 60-plus mph winds.
“So people need to get that out of their brain that it’s not just for a tornado,” Banas said. “Some of those straight lines winds are just as damaging.”
Harper referred to an Allegan County Emergency Management post saying weather protocol is established with support from public safety and the 911 Policy Board. Public Safety Alert Monitors are monitored by fire departments, law enforcement, schools and industry advising of conditions issued by the National Weather Service. When the public warning system is activated, the public needs to seek shelter and tuned to local TV, radio, and other forms of communications to determine appropriate action they should take to protect themselves. With winds more than 60 mph, it can cause damage to trees, power lines, structures; and cause serious injury or death.
Allegan County tests sirens on the fourth Friday of each month at 11 a.m. all-year-round. For questions, email scorbin@allegancounty.org or call Allegan County Emergency Management at (269) 673-0571.
Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.
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