Frequent tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings have impacted the Falcon area and Eastern El Paso County this spring. Strong, damaging tornadoes struck Simla in June. Some Falcon residents, who missed the urgent warnings, are asking why the community does not have tornado-warning sirens, common in Tornado Alley country (like some southern states).Colorado does not have a statewide warning system. Individual cities and counties are responsible for funding and implementing their own alerts for their communities. Simla, which experienced several tornadoes from one strong storm June 4, has a tornado siren. Calhan has one as well. Falcon and most of Colorado Springs are not covered by outdoor audible alerts.ìThey are an outdoor warning system, and people have to be educated what the siren means; if they are sounded for different reasons,î said Tom Magnuson, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service Pueblo office, which covers El Paso County. ìNOAA All Hazards Weather Radio came to El Paso County around 1980, and can be used to alert the public with both a siren and voice and can be used indoors and outdoors.îìTornado sirens are old technology that has been replaced in many parts of the country by cell phones, emails, text messaging and NOAA weather radio,î said Dave Rose, El Paso County public information officer. ìToda,y the broadcasters’ Emergency Alert System instantly displays warnings on our TV stations, over our radios; and you can easily sign up for NOAA weather alerts to text your phone as well as ‘pass along’ text services offered through the TV stations.îAccording to the El Paso County Sheriffís Office, Falcon has not had a warning siren for at least 20 years, said Baaron Pittenger, deputy public information officer.ìI remember downtown Colorado Springs had one,î said Dodi Lingg, long-time Falcon resident, who said she doesn’t remember having tornado or air-raid sirens in the community. ìWe’ve always had tornadoes, but out here a long time ago no one knew about it because the cows don’t report them.îìI can endorse the American Red Cross Emergency App for watches, warnings and advisories for smartphones,î Magnuson said. Most cell phones have settings to control what kind of emergency alerts are passed along, based on an individualís location.People who choose not to use smartphones or are in areas with poor cell service can purchase inexpensive and lightweight radios that automatically monitor the NWS radio stations for severe weather warnings.The American Red Cross applications can be found at http://redcross.org/prepare/mobile-apps.
