To the editor:

It’s hard to believe Assistant Emergency Management Director Teri Smith actually said what was printed in the Journal-World on March 13. Maybe she was misquoted. She said that people should have been listening to their weather radios or watching the news when the storm hit.

The storm hit so quickly that by the time we headed downstairs to take cover, the power was out, so the TV wasn’t an option. Weather radios are important, but with no warning, people can’t really be expected to have one on all the time. I didn’t hear the sirens until the storm passed.

Ms. Smith said that the sirens are not intended to be the area’s primary source of storm information and are only intended for people who are outdoors. This is news to me since I thought the sirens were to warn everyone (indoors and outdoors) in the area that a tornado warning was in effect. The sirens went off about five minutes after the storm passed.

She further goes on to say that she wouldn’t have done anything differently in warning people about the storm. So that means there is no room for improvement the next time.

Again, I hope this was a misquote because if that was really said, I disagree. There are improvements that can and should be made. I have very little trust in the Emergency Management team leading the way to warn the citizens of Lawrence should a sudden storm pass through Lawrence again.

Todd R. Chipman,

Lawrence