Abstract
Cost and Effectiveness of Warning Sirens vs. NOAA Weather Radio
Track: Disaster Management and Emergency Response
Author(s): Timothy Prather, Joanne Logan
It is often reported after deadly tornado outbreaks that there are no emergency warning sirens in affected rural areas. There is a common belief that warning sirens might have prevented some of the fatalities in those areas, but most residents probably would not have heard warning sirens due to their limited audible range. Outdoor emergency warning sirens are intended to warn people outdoors within a radius of up to 2 miles, and are not expected to awaken individuals sleeping indoors. Even if a siren system is deemed effective, costs of installing and maintaining an emergency warning siren network are prohibitive in rural areas.
This project uses a GIS approach to evaluate current and potential emergency warning siren placements in five Tennessee counties that have experienced fatal tornadoes, and compares potential effectiveness of the sirens in warning the general population vs. NOAA Weather Radios using specific area message encoding (S.A.M.E.).
Timothy Prather
University of Tennessee Extension
2506 E J Chapman Dr
Knoxville , Tennessee 37996-4531
United States
Phone: 8659747266
E-mail: tprather@utk.edu
Joanne Logan
University of Tennessee College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
2506 E J Chapman Dr
Knoxville , Tennessee 37996-4531
United States
Phone: 865-974-7266
E-mail: loganj@utk.edu