Tornado sirens and how they work

On March 21, 2022, two tornadoes ripped through Marshall County and left the community reeling. Ma ny families were affected by it one way or another, whether their home was hit directly by the storms, or they have been working tirelessly to h elp the ones who were hit.

Many times, community members r ely on notifications from their local weather channels, or the tornado sirens to warn them of the impending d a ngers of a tornado. Even th ough many residents rely on the tornado siren s, many are unsure of how they operate.

Ma dill Fire Chief Mike Idleman, who was the Incident Commander for the disaster , said that Madill has four sirens and also maint ains one at Oakland City Hall, and one at Oklahoma Steel and Wire. Kingston Fire James Kuykendall noted that Kingston h as four sirens.

Many people don't know the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning. According to Idleman, a Tornado Watch "means the conditions are favorable for the development of severe storms capable of producing tornadoes," and a Tornado Warning "is a warning to alert the public when a tornado has been reported or indicated byweatherradar in a thunderstorm."

Even though the sirens can be activated from the fire department and are there to alert the community, they still rely on not ification s from the weather channel and people to activate them.

"When a torna do warning occurs or trained storm spotters spot a rotation or a tornadic storm, we will sound the storm sirens that we set off at the Fire dept," Idleman said.

"We do work closely with the National Weather Service, while sever e weather is h appening in our area, we have a chat room that all EOC are in to talk directly to them," Idleman added.

Idleman said that Marsh all County h as a team who spring into action when tornadoes are near, but sometimes, they can't always warn the community. "Marshall County has a team of trained weather personnel consisting of Madill EM, Kingston EM, Marshall County EM, Madill Fire that are in constant contact while weather is happening," Idleman said. "When a tornado warning is approaching the county, and we know it will impact the county, we will set off the stonn sirens. "There are always those times when we don't h ave any warning, all agencies that are involved do and will give all citizens the most warning that we can give."

Idleman said that sometimes, there is confusion surrounding the purpose of a tornado siren.

"A storm siren is an outdoor warning device, it is designed to warn people who are outside to take shelter immediately," Idleman said.

Many people can't hear the sirens when they are indoors. However, there are steps community members can take to reduce their chances ofbeing surprised by a tornado or any other type of emergency. The Hyper Reach system is the primary countywide notification system. It can be accessed by visiting https://signup.hyper-reach.com/hyper_reach/sign_up_