LJWorld.com

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

Let's look at the facts:

1) A tornado warning was issued for Douglas County on May 2
2) A tornado (EF2) was confirmed on the ground in Douglas County
3) The warning was issued at 1:04am
4) The power was out for thousands of people
5) Visibility at the time was zero due to the tremendous storm
6) Bob Newton interprets the current policy as requiring visual confirmation of a tornado
7) No county spotter was able to actually see the tornado at 1am, in the middle of a storm, with no lig
8) As a result, Bob Newton ignored the NWS tornado warning and the conditions at the time, and did not sound the sirens

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

Now let's look at the arguments in defense of his inaction:
1) If we sound the sirens based solely on an NWS issued tornado warning, people will become desensitized because they will be going off all the time
— Response— From the NWS: The National Weather Service in Topeka has issued 37 tornado warnings for portions of Douglas County from Jan. 1986 through May 12, 2008. That averages to approximately 1.6 tornado warnings per year.

1-2 sirens a year is unlikely to desensitize very many people.

2) Sirens are only meant to be heard outside.
—Response— So? There were people outside. These people deserved to be warned just like everybody else. Further, just because the sirens are meant to only be heard outside, they can be heard inside by many people. These people will benefit from this warning as well, even if it is not “meant” for them.

3) People should not rely on sirens, but rather TV, internet, weather radio, etc.
—Response— No one is advocating that we rely ONLY on the sirens, but rather that when all of these technologies are combined, more people are likely to be warned. Further, if the power goes out, like it did on May 2, many of these technologies will not function. The siren system provides some redundancy to compensate for this situation.

4) How did people survive before we had sirens?
—Response— Fallacious argument. How did people survive before we had firemen, police, air conditioning, refrigeration, electricity, running water, etc.? The fact is, early warning saves lives. The sirens are a part of the early warning system that we have decided as a community is important: hence we paid for it.

5) What if the tornado only affects a small part of the county? We don't need to set off the sirens for everybody.
—Response— In Douglas County, we have a six-zone siren system. If the danger is isolated, the County can sound the sirens in only the affected area.

6) It was too windy to hear them anyway.
—Response— Not for everyone. It is likely that some people still would have heard the sirens, and thus benefited from the warning.

7) No one was killed or injured.
—Response— Not this time, but that is not an excuse. There was severe property damage. Next time we may not be so lucky. Certainty of death should not be a prerequisite for the sounding of the sirens.

8) The tornado was in the county, the sirens wouldn't have helped them.
—Response— There are many sirens placed outside of the city limits of Lawrence throughout the county. The tornado and tornado warning were well within range of at least a dozen of these sirens:
http://www.douglas-county.com/depts/em/d…

vega (Anonymous) says…

While they are establishinig 'delicate balance” I am going to keep checking NWS tomorrow afternoon, I don't trust Douglas county community leaders anymore.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook…

road_Runner (Anonymous) says…

“While they are establishinig 'delicate balance” I am going to keep checking NWS tomorrow afternoon, I don't trust Douglas county community leaders anymore.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook… ”

Updated graphic:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook…

May 21 is marked on my calendar now.

KEITHMILES05 (Anonymous) says…

Too error on the side of caution is the best policy.

Why would any county wish to do otherwise?

For Douglas county not to take a more serious approach is appalling.

TopJayhawk (Anonymous) says…

KSA. I still want to know why you glorify child abuse. You won't answer. Come on man, stand up for yourself, are on the sexual predator registry?

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

It is you that is inferring glory from the action which K.S.A. 21-3503 makes a felony. As I have said before, if you don't like the fact that K.S.A. 21-3503 makes these actions a class 5 felony, call the Legislature. Apparently you have a problem with the law. That is the proper forum to take that up.

igby (Anonymous) says…

If it takes a court order, Branson's office or the AG's office's opinion or a public forum to define when to use the warning system; if we have leaders as such, that never will admit they are not capable of making responsible policy, they are no longer any good for society. Get rid of them, they have been in office to long.

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

Considering that the tornado that hit Missouri went from an E1 to and E4 in just a few miles you may want to use the wind speed that makes the damages from 110E1- 166E4 bearing in mind that roof structures fly at 122mph wind speeds. Better to err on the side of caution.

Rickyonealku (Anonymous) says…

I was in Lawrence, Kansas over the weekend watching the Saturday afternoon evening storms develop. To my amazement the wall clouds that I watched had rotation and could drop a tornado at any time but no advance sirens were sounding. When traveling my weather radio is with me at all times, plus my weather radio had received an advance warning Saturday May 10, 2008 at 3:32 PM.

Ricky
Norman, Oklahoma
P.S. my home in Norman, Oklahoma is located one mile from the National Server Weather Center!!!!

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

This conversation is like the energizer bunny…it keeps going and going and going, and the thing is that nobody, and I mean nobody is doing anything about it.
Since the storm rolled through lawrence people have been on these blogs fussing about the sirens not sounding. I tried to convey to people that you need to take personal responsibility, have a plan for you and your family, you CANNOT rely on a siren, as these sirens can malfunction at the drop of a hat.
The sirens went off in OP saturday night, there was no tornado, but the way in which the siren is positioned the wind caught it and set it off. The same is true for them NOT going off even if the button is pushed to sound them.
You simply cannot and should not EVER depend on the sirens to tell you when there is bad weather.
I can also tell you this, having been down in se ks, ne ok, and SW MO for the last few days, and seeing the total devestation, I havent spoke to 1 person who mentioned anything about the sirens. Its not a concern, its not even a fleeting thought in their minds, some of them have lost everything.
2 people showed up at the EOC meeting, which was promoted for several days before it took place…..why only 2 people? If your so concerned about the siren system, then you should have been there. Otherwise, you have no credibility, only the fact that you just want to fuss.
Please I beg each and everyone of you, take responsibility for yourselves and your family, make a plan, make sure everyone in your family knows the plan, practice it! But never rely on the siren to tell you that there is bad weather.

conservative (Anonymous) says…

I agree that if the sirens sound too often then people will ignore them. I remember when growing up in the 80's my hometown would sound the sirens every time there was a WATCH not just when there was a warning. As a result they basically got ignored.

That being said I think that the county should concentrate on determining when they want to sound the sirens without a warning from the NWS. If the NWS issues a warning then please turn on the sirens. 1.6 times a year definitely is not a desensitizing number of occurences.

DonQuipunch (Anonymous) says…

>>>Andrew Stahmer
KSA, you're pretty zealous about getting on here and 'mouthing off'. Too bad you cower behind your anonymity and you'd never have the guts to be so bold as to name-call and call for people to be fired to their face….(foam, froth, chest-beating, etc.)<<<

Okay, I'll bite.

Andrew, is your only argument seriously that he's anonymous? Because he makes some pretty valid points and it seems more legitimate to me than your unwarranted diatribe of personal attacks. KSA sounds pretty lucid, whereas you sound like an angry frat boy. But hey, what do I know? I'm a “coward!”

Dork.

monkeyspunk (Anonymous) says…

“I tried to convey to people that you need to take personal responsibility, have a plan for you and your family, you CANNOT rely on a siren, as these sirens can malfunction at the drop of a hat.”

And not one person has disagreed with this argument ksdivakat, not one.

Yet you continue to use it as a response to KSA and other's concerns over the county's siren policy. Why?

Why do you defend people who for the most part disagree with you? The county wants sirens, they want MORE sirens. This is about the county's responsibilities. Period. You would think after 4 or 5 threads on the issue you would have figured it you.

Yes, we should take measures to take care of our families ourselves, but if the county insists on using OUR tax dollars to pay $20,000 or so per siren, then they should have a sound policy when it comes to their use.

You want to defend the county's policy? Good luck. But your continuous pseudo-defense of it by telling people they need to take responsibility for themselves is tired.

Perhaps KSA is doing just that, did that ever cross your mind?

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

Ksdivakat: If the NSW service has proven that advance warning saves lives then what part of this don't you understand? No you can't rely on what you cannot see, but when branches has taken out a families electricity, they are sound asleep in the middle of the the pitch dark night, then what would you recommend the parents go outside and look for themselves? Have you ever seen how quick a funnel can drop out of a cloud?? I didn't think so.

JerryStubbs (Anonymous) says…

Nobody is stopping Bob Newton from posting something here, but then I doubt that many people read this stuff anyway.

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

kstwiater, seriously, Im a storm chaser for the storm prediction center…of course I have…….and I can answer yours and monkeys question again with one line….

How come there were only 2 people at the meeting?

If you people REALLY wanted this policy changed….how come you werent at the meeting??
Because my belief is that people really dont care about the policy, they just want to bitch, this is dangerous to the rest of the community….

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

Some people have to work a job or two to keep up with cost of those darn sirens. How that is dangerous when roofs blow off and trees fall on homes and care just because some are upset they did not go off for the conditions that were present is beyond me. I guess when it costs a life it worth the electricity?? And why have them if at all if that is the case. Lawrence could have easily gotten what Missouri got if the storm had dropped its potential early. Several people in the path could not believe they just sit on their laurels and let us fend for ourselves–-which is exactly what you are asking for.
Incredible.

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

Yes, they just sat.

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

kstwister……you must deal with facts and not emotions, which is unfortunately wjhat most people are going on here on these blogs.
Question-was there EVER a tornado in the city limits of lawrence that night???
answer-no
***************************************************************
So are you proposing that everytime the wind blows the sirens should be activated? Or is it your position that anytime there are winds above x, then they should be sounded? Im confused as to your position on this??

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

ok, also think about this…most importantly think about this……what if ahuge storm blows up there and there is a tornado warning issued and they hit the button to sound the siren and no siren….malfunction….what then???
And by the way, whomever wrote that the sirens are 20k was wayyyy off base, those sirens are about 750k per siren.
And monkey, the county wants more sirens to cover a larger area..IE: rual areas…..not to be able to sound them everytime the wind blows.
And finally, I will ask again since nobody has answered…..why werent any of you there at the meeting?? If you want the policy changed why didnt you show up to get that done???

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

Yes, I have 5 people who saw the cloud 1:45 am thereabouts, heard it, but was so dark (due to low dark cloud) that if it dropped a funnel we were scrambling for cover. So my position was that one individual had just received a call from a concerned family member that a trailer park had been hit in North Lawrence, and the lumber company was gone. Exaggerated but nonetheless the next morning paper held that to be more true than not. That guy was trying to make an educated decision what to tell us to do. What happened before the call ended had us running and thinking it was too late. Yep, that will make some emotions run high.

At night, dark, high winds (90-115 mph + ) possible chance for damage, saw the hail, saw the horizontal rain…..what did they miss that we did not. Emotional, only because the dolts did not give many a warning although we got lucky in spite of them. How anyone could have seen a tornado in that cloud is beyond all of us. I don't care if an F5 barrels down in broad daylight at least you can take evasive action. Night is a different scenario. I have been in two tornadoes in Lawrence that reduced houses to ground level –in the daytime. Several in other areas but that night a wrong choice was made. Very wrong. Not everyone can be in such a protected environment and so trusting of their own capability to escape anything the weather sends in. Sleep tight. They should have taken NWS warning because it was more protective of lives and property. Enough said.

kits (Anonymous) says…

“I don’t want it to go off every time a cloud comes out of the southwest,” County Commissioner Bob Johnson said during Monday’s commission meeting.

His statement shows a lighthearted attitude towards the publics concern regarding our siren policy.

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

“How come there were only 2 people at the meeting?”
—Response— The meeting was at 8am. Most people who would want to show up have to work at that time.

“Question-was there EVER a tornado in the city limits of lawrence that night???
answer-no”
—Response— This is not relevant. The sirens are not just for the city of Lawrence, they are for the entire county. Further, the NWS issued tornado warning covered a significant part of Lawrence and significant damage occurred within the city limits. Thus, as stated above, the tornado and tornado warning were both within range of at least a dozen sirens.

“what if ahuge storm blows up there and there is a tornado warning issued and they hit the button to sound the siren and no siren….malfunction….what then???”
—Response— If that actually happened, at least they tried to warn the residents with the system that the residents paid for. By choosing not to even try sound the sirens, they are choosing to seal the fate of the residents who, for whatever reason, are unable to get advance warning by any other means. By choosing not to even try to sound the sirens, they are choosing to spit in the face of the taxpayers who have approved a significant allocation of their tax dollars for the procurement and maintenance of the siren system.

“And by the way, whomever wrote that the sirens are 20k was wayyyy off base, those sirens are about 750k per siren. “
—Response— Two things: 1) The sirens are indeed about $20,000 each:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/29…
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/sep/13…
2) If the sirens were 750k each, that argument works against you tenfold because that would be such a tremendous investment by the taxpayers as to leave absolutely no excuse for their not sounding.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the taxpayers have paid for the sirens, and the county continues to ask for more funds to install MORE sirens. Then when it comes time to actually using them during a tornado, they refuse.

*********************

Looking back through the archives, I have found this infuriating comment as a justification for the current county policy:
“When the county decides to sound the sirens to indicate severe weather, they do not have to wait for the National Weather Service's approval.”

Yet, when the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning, its highest level of warning, the county decides to ignore it and not sound the sirens. The policy was clearly drafted with the intent of giving the Emergency Management personnel the ability to sound the sirens without having to wait for NWS warnings. This is not the same thing as having the intent of giving the EM personnel the ability to overrule NWS warnings. It's time for new personnel.

rodentgirl16 (Anonymous) says…

ksdivacat,

I'll answer why I wasn't at the meeting. i was working! Other people work for a living. Several people have said that. Get off your high horse; you don't hold a monopoly on knowledge of public policy, emergency management, or storm forecasting. Geez! Furthermore, expand on your experience of being a storm chaser for the SPC. I use the SPC site quite frequently and I've never seen them refer to chasers. I thought that was the NWS's department.

kansassportsnutgal (Anonymous) says…

I would rather be warned than Not warned! So please when the NWS issues a warning the sirens should sound!

Wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry! It would have been horrible if somone would have died a few ago when Bob Newton decided Not to sound the sirens! He would not be able to live with himself!

Safe than Sorry !!!!!

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

KSA…..I thought the other day that we were kindof on the same page, I thought you were looking at this realistically and not emotionally….I was wrong.

So because the meeting was at 8 and not 6p.m only 2 people could show up eventhough there was 5 days notice….I guess people could not have used vaca time to attend the meeting to change the policy if it was so important.
The fact that there wasnt a tornado in lawrence is irrelevant?? WHAT?? to early to be drinking KSA…..YOU are the one advocating sounding the sirens in the appropiate part of the county…which would NOT have been inside the city limits…..AND now your saying there was high winds so sound them…..so everytime there are winds…blow them sirens???
By the way, what exactly is your education as far as storm prediction??
Why dont you want to take responsibilty for YOUR own actions?? For your own life? for the life of your family??
You know as well as I do that if the sirens malfunctioned in a tornado then every liberal looney would be on here bitching about that…cause thats what this town does…pass the buck, blame someone else, and by all means dont take responsibility for your own actions…leave it up to someone else!
And ok, I will wait until wed night at the commish meeting and see how many people show up there….keep in mind there will be just as many people there who dont want them sounded everytime the wind blows as though who do….so where is the medium??
Also, you should really do research on sirens, there are not sirens out in the country and if everyone in the city wants more and wants them sounded then this will cause taxes to go up as these are not 20k a piece…that is the most asinine thing Ive heard yet!
Read the article about the new walmart! Just a round about in lawrence costs 300k! and thats concrete slapped together to make traffic a nightmare!
I pray for you and your family, and everyone else on here who do not want to take responsibility for themselves…..God help you if you are depending on anyone or anything other than yourselves in an actual tornado!

BuddhaDude (Anonymous) says…

Just think what the death toll would have been in Greensburg if the tornado syrens weren't sounded.

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

I suggest a nap then rammy! I could care less if your bored…move to another story then!

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

“YOU are the one advocating sounding the sirens in the appropiate part of the county…which would NOT have been inside the city limits…..AND now your saying there was high winds so sound them…..so everytime there are winds…blow them sirens???”
—Response— I am advocating sounding the sirens where the tornado warning is issued. We have the capabilities of doing that in Douglas County. Part of Lawrence was included in the tornado warning, thus at least that part should have had siren warning.

“Why dont you want to take responsibilty for YOUR own actions?? For your own life? for the life of your family??”
—Response— That is not what this is about at all, but rather a straw man argument. In fact, siren warning will give residents a better opportunity to take responsibility as they will have a better chance of being warned. A better chance of being warned necessarily means a better opportunity to take responsibility by seeking shelter.

“You know as well as I do that if the sirens malfunctioned in a tornado then every liberal looney would be on here bitching about that…cause thats what this town does…”
—Response— I can't speak to that as that is not what happened. This is pure speculation and has no place in this conversation.

“keep in mind there will be just as many people there who dont want them sounded everytime the wind blows as though who do….so where is the medium??”
—Response— More speculation. In all likelihood, there will be many more people extremely upset about the lack of leadership and competence at the Douglas County Emergency Management office than those who support inaction in the face of an NWS issued tornado warning.

“Also, you should really do research on sirens, there are not sirens out in the country”
—Response— If you look at the top of this page you will see two links showing where all the sirens are. If you actually look at the maps you will see that there are MANY sirens out in the county:
http://www2.ljworld.com/documents/2008/m…
http://www.douglas-county.com/depts/em/d…

“if everyone in the city wants more and wants them sounded then this will cause taxes to go up as these are not 20k a piece…that is the most asinine thing Ive heard yet!”
—Response— They just bought two in January at a price of $17,000-$20,000 each, per the story I cited. If you provide a reference that refutes this, then you might have a leg to stand on here. Otherwise, what you are saying is clearly not supported by the evidence.

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

ratgirl….expand YOUR knowledge on storms!! I have repeatedly sited credentials, read other posts…and the SPC doesnt have storm chasers?? LMAO..please stop yourself!
The SPC is the #1 storm prediction center in the US, we work closely with NOAA and have 30+ years of documentation proving that sounding the sirens at the drop of a hat desensatizes people….so get over it! Its true, even now when the sirens are sounded people step out on their porches and kids ride their bikes.
Now I know that unless you have a job at mcdonalds then you have vacation time…..couldnt use an hour of that to show up at the meeting???
If this is THAT important to you, or anyone else….if your family was that important to you, then you would have been there….again..pass the buck!

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

KSA..”Response— They just bought two in January at a price of $17,000-$20,000”
id be worried about that!!! LOL
give me a minute, and I can find some on it…its gonna take a minute, but I will get it!

mistygreen (Anonymous) says…

Oh boy here we go again, with the same old bull stanky we've heard before.

KSA-you make valid and logical points, I hope you make it to the meeting on the 21st.

I've marked my calander to be there…..unless the weather is bad…can't risk being away from my weather radio, and can't trust the EOC..

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

Yes KSA….please make sure you go with mistygreen to the meeting, I will be there and this will be the great thing ………KSA is the Kansas statute for a baby raper! Yeah you should take him with you misty, thats gonna help your position a bunch!!! LOL

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

“KSA is the Kansas statute for a baby raper! Yeah you should take him with you misty, thats gonna help your position a bunch!!! LOL”

There is no Kansas statute legalizing baby rape. K.S.A. 21-3503 explicitly makes indecent liberties with a child a felony. Try reading the law.

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

you can put a bow on it, sprinkle fairy dust on it and call it anything you want…….its still a baby raper!

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

oh yeah, and it might rain today, so go put your ear to the window so you dont miss it in case the sirens dont go off when it rains!!!!!

Poon (Anonymous) says…

I am a storm chaser, so I pretty much know everything about the weather. My most proud moment of my life had nothing to do with storms however. No, no, no, my biggest triumph in life was when I stood in Tiananmen Square and stopped a line of tanks by simply standing in front of them. Well, perhaps that wasn't me in the picture. I am certain there was sniper fire though.

mistygreen (Anonymous) says…

Hey ksdivakat, just a few weeks ago I saw you passing yourself off as a “loving christian”….well honey, you don't seem to be acting all lovey dovey to everyone here.
You must be one of those “fair weather” christians, only when it suits your purpose.

To the others: sorry to be OT, but it had to be said.

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

“I am an expert because I am telling you I am. Don't pay any attention to the actual content of my arguments, just blindly accept that everything I say is true because I say it is, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.” - ksdivakat

road_Runner (Anonymous) says…

“ratgirl….expand YOUR knowledge on storms!! I have repeatedly sited credentials, read other posts…and the SPC doesnt have storm chasers?? LMAO..please stop yourself!”
While everyone is entitled to an opinion, I've been struggling with a response to your comment since I saw it. Respectfully, I have friends who work there and even I was unaware that they paid chasers now, especially since SPC is government operated and they have their own meteorologists who rotate between forecasting and chasing. I'd figured the concept of paying chasers would be more on the NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) side since they are research oriented.

People react and interpret different situations in different ways. Upon reading all the comments from the stories relating to this subject, there is one area that stands out more than others and that's a genuine concern for safety.

Again, I understand where you are coming from in regards to the sirens and using other resources to rely on when a warning is issued. As monkeyspunk pointed out, not one has disagreed with this statement and it's a very valid and crucial point. Many here though feel that ALL the resources to warn people should be initiated when a warning is issued and this time around, that did not happen. Now, with that being said, do I feel the sirens should be sounded everytime the wind blows? No, of course not and others have pointed that out as well. I understand that some storms are more severe than others, especially when it comes to the possibility of tornadic storms and at times, they do need to be further evaluated, especially by storm spotters. They are absolutely fundamental to the warning system and I trust their judgment.

igby (Anonymous) says…

If you look back in the LJW articles before the storm. One article stated that lighting hit the siren a few days before the storm. I think the question that should be ask is were the sirens fixed at the time of the storm. If not, it's understandable because parts sometime take time to order. If the system was down just tell the truth.

road_Runner (Anonymous) says…

A few things though occurred that night that can't be discounted and needs to be further evaluated.

1. The strong rotation in the storm. When the storm was about 10 minutes outside of Lawrence and by Clinton Lake, it showed some strong rotation indicated by the SR-M radar. (Approx 120 knots: 65 knots outbound/ 55 knots inbound) I understand that storms vary greatly from minute to minute, however having that strong of a rotation in proximity to the city is a legitimate concern and the spotters were unable to detect it from the ground due to the poor conditions of the storm.

2. The speed of the storm. It was moving 45-50mph that evening and it's terribly challenging keeping up with a storm like that, especially at night.

3. The individual storm (not the line segment) had HP (High Precipitation) characteristics and didn't even bow out until it was closer to KC. HP's make it very difficult to detect rotation from the ground, let alone in the dark.

4. A tornado did touch down in Douglas County and the spotters did not detect it. I want to emphasize here that I do not fault the wonderful spotters in anyway. It just happened to to be one of those nights where the conditions were horrible to see anything from ground level. I understand that the tornado was short-lived, however it still produced a tornado and was not reported.

Overall, I am concerned though that based on the storm structure and conditions that night (which others here have pointed out as well), the sirens should have gone off and they did not. All I am asking is for the policy to re-evaluated after what happened and based on the conditions that night.

igby (Anonymous) says…

Siren Down!

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/24…

monkeyspunk (Anonymous) says…

ksdivakat said: “And by the way, whomever wrote that the sirens are 20k was wayyyy off base, those sirens are about 750k per siren. ”

From the Douglas County Commission Minutes of 6/18/2007:
“The 2008 budget proposal includes three additional sirens at an approximate cost of $20,000 per siren.”

Thanks, come again.

melott (Anonymous) says…

A more serious concern is our poor signal coverage for weather radio, which we should be relying on when we are indoors. On this map, green means unreliable coverage due to low signal strength:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/states/kansa…

ksdivakat (Anonymous) says…

mistygreen, no Im a real person, infaliable and human to the core, however, when I feel attacked I tend to get a touch fussy, as Im sure you would too!
I will no longer engage in a conversation with someone who prides themselves and their handle on here as a baby raper….sorry, I just cant do it.
So all this fussing and cussing and the sirens werent even working to sound off?? is that correct??
My whole point this whole time has been this……people were absolutely reacting with emotion and not facts and still it is emotions and not facts, and unfortunately thats not gonna get anyone anywhere.
Ask yourself how long this policy has been in effect?? Im assuming several years.
I have a definate problem with people who do not want to take responsibility for themselves and their loved ones, thats my issue and has been all along, again, if its that important to people then why werent there more people at the meeting? and the whole I was at work excuse doesnt fly, there will be people at work next wed night too, but I bet if they want to come they will make arrangements with their jobs to come.
I have repeated this sentiment over and over, and you can say all you want that nobody is saying they dont want to take responsibiity, but in fact that is exactly the case, and that mentality will get people killed, so yes its a sore subject for me, but I will say this, I will stop fussing about it and let the chips fall where they may, I dont care one way or another as it doesnt affect me personally, but I think you are in for a losing battle and its going to cause alot of discontent, but Ive said it 100 times, if thats what the people want then the commission is bound to go with the majority, and what if the majority wants the policy to stand?? Do you still do nothing but complain that it wasnt changed??
I wish you luck and will see you at the meeting. I hope it all works out the way you want it too.

Zype (Anonymous) says…

“I don’t want it to go off every time a cloud comes out of the southwest”
That's not even what we're asking.
Pay attention.

“Commissioners want to hear what the public thinks about the use of tornado sirens.”
Gee. That's a tough one.
I'm pretty sure popular opinion is that if a tornado warning is issued, tornado sirens should go off.
Wow. That wasn't so tough after all, was it now?

mistygreen (Anonymous) says…

ksdivacat: everyone has the right to choose their screen nick whether we like it or not. Nor do we have to agree with them. It is afterall just a moniker, you know, just like ksdivacat. I don't really care to know what is behind that name, you've shown your true colors, at least to me.
I see it in two different ways.
1). Obviously the person is making some kind of statement.
2). It is just a screen nick, moniker, who really cares what they are trying to say.
Finally, if I decided to “go with” your analogy and screen nick, I'd think you're a b*tch, but I see past the monikers, which you obviously cannot get past.

rodentgirl16 (Anonymous) says…

melott brings up an excellent point. We get terrible reception and my programmed SAME codes don't work for counties west of Douglas County, presumably because we receive a stronger signal from the Pleasant Hill NWS Office. The night in question, we got the Tornado watch renewal and severe thunderstorm warning, but not the tornado warning. Is there anyway that this can be improved?

KSA_21_3503 (Anonymous) says…

“I will no longer engage in a conversation with someone who prides themselves and their handle on here as a baby raper….sorry, I just cant do it.”

Interesting interpretation of the law. I challenge you to find one person of reasonable mind that believes that K.S.A. 21-3503 supports “baby rapers.”

Any rational person would recognize that K.S.A. 21-3503 is the legislative mechanism by which “baby rapers” can be brought to justice through the criminal system. Thus, a supporter of K.S.A. 21-3503, by definition, does not support “baby rapers,” but rather supports the criminalizing of that activity.

…I don't know why I bothered to explain this. You clearly have no grasp of logic or reason, and probably still won't after this explanation.