Tornado Sirens for The City of Houston

[Baseballdude2915]

Would be much easier if cities would just create a "emergency notification system" and alert citizens via text message or other means. I mean come on, 80% of people would get the warning within 5 minutes of an emergency the way we depend on cell phones these days. I'm sure some other cities have, but it would be easy to create the system here, have a team managing alerts and have citizens sign up for it online or on their water bill or something.

[wxman57]

Would be much easier if cities would just create a "emergency notification system" and alert citizens via text message or other means. I mean come on, 80% of people would get the warning within 5 minutes of an emergency the way we depend on cell phones these days. I'm sure some other cities have, but it would be easy to create the system here, have a team managing alerts and have citizens sign up for it online or on their water bill or something.

That's true. Some systems use something like "reverse 911", where they call you in an emergency with a recorded msg. Would work for tornado warnings at a tiny fraction of the cost of sirens.

[sanantoniogirl85]

Most people will not do anything until it's 2 late. Dallas/Ft. Worth were the same way until a tornado hit them they are also major cities as well. I have been 2 Ft. Worth 2 visit a family member back in 2000, and I saw the downtown area was almost gone. In 1995, I was about 2 b 10 and I saw a funnel cloud over West Oaks Mall in Alief. and I thought, "oh, this is it...a tornadoes finally coming. I have no weather radio, there needs 2 b sirens at least in Alief, Sugar Land, and in Katy. . .A tornado did hit in Sugar Land in 1998 tore a wall down 4rm 1st colony mall. and Katy had it's share in 1992 when the tornado moved west 4rm the channelview area. I saw the tornado coverage clip via youtube.com (khou & abc 13). I am those type of people that won't take any chances with the weather. Houston gets hurricanes, and I grew up 2 hurricane jerry in 1989, tropical storm frances in 1998, tropical storm allison in 2001 - - -completely devastating parts of the medical center. Rita almost went through Houston in 2005, and if she did Houston would've been gone. . .and in 2008, I went through Ike that rocked the Houston/Galveston area. And when hurricanes do get strong, they do develop tornadoes. No1 should take advantage of this I know Houston gets rarely hit, it don't mean it will not get hit 1 day. better be prepared than sorry.

[sanantoniogirl85]

1 of these days Houston will get hit since Dallas/Ft. Worth isn't that far away.

[weatherguy425]

But the dynamics are completey different between the two cities. There is a reson why Dalls is considered part of "tornado alley". with a city already millions upon millions in the hole, why would we put sirens out that *mayy only be used once a year, and thats a maybe. With the way everyone is so inthrawled in technology they will most likely recieve appropraite lead time during severe weather events.

[srainhoutx]

There was a time not too long ago when Harris County had the most 'reported' Tornados in TX.

http://www.spcpub.com/custom.cfm?name=a ... fm&id=1525

[wxman57]

I believe that those statistics include funnel cloud sightings, srain. And with such a population density as Harris County, not many funnel clouds go un-noticed. Not to mention the close proximity of Doppler radar providing better coverage of Harris County than counties a bit farther away from the radar. So Harris County may occasionally take the lead in tornadoes mainly due to better observations in the county.

That's why we have a lot more hurricanes now than in the mid 1800s. We just couldn't detect them as easily back then. Better detection capabilities = more sightings.

[wxman666]

I provided a link on page 2 of this discussion showing tornado statistics recorded from 1950-2009, and it showed Harris County topping out at 213 reports. That link also has statistics for every other major US city and when our numbers are compared to (by city) OKC, Dallas, Wichita, Lubbock and Kansas City, our number is still highest among those cities. Interesting food for thought.

[wxman57]

I provided a link on page 2 of this discussion showing tornado statistics recorded from 1950-2009, and it showed Harris County topping out at 213 reports. That link also has statistics for every other major US city and when our numbers are compared to (by city) OKC, Dallas, Wichita, Lubbock and Kansas City, our number is still highest among those cities. Interesting food for thought.

See my post above yours. The "tornadoes" we get here are a joke compared to what they see in Oklahoma. Funnel cloud sightings, Doppler indicated rotation in thunderstorms that results in a tornado warning, water spouts near the coast. A high population density along with a nearby Doppler radar and proximity to a very warm body of water is a formula for many tornado sightings. Sure, we do occasionally get a real tornado down here, but most of the time we get funnel clouds and/or extremely small, weak and short-lived funnels touching the ground.

[wxman666]

I provided a link on page 2 of this discussion showing tornado statistics recorded from 1950-2009, and it showed Harris County topping out at 213 reports. That link also has statistics for every other major US city and when our numbers are compared to (by city) OKC, Dallas, Wichita, Lubbock and Kansas City, our number is still highest among those cities. Interesting food for thought.

See my post above yours. The "tornadoes" we get here are a joke compared to what they see in Oklahoma. Funnel cloud sightings, Doppler indicated rotation in thunderstorms that results in a tornado warning, water spouts near the coast. A high population density along with a nearby Doppler radar and proximity to a very warm body of water is a formula for many tornado sightings. Sure, we do occasionally get a real tornado down here, but most of the time we get funnel clouds and/or extremely small, weak and short-lived funnels touching the ground.

I did read that Wxman, and I would have to respectfully disagree with that statement based on the reports, more detailed statistics I've read over the years, and real life experiences, because there are quite a few other cities that are densely populated that are listed. Not to the extent of Houston, but enough. I am curious to see what happens with our weather in the coming years, because I see it changing. ultimately, it will be a government decisison but until we have a major disaster with a number of fatalities, nothing will get done before then. That's how government works. The whole, "we can afford to lose a few people" kind of attitude, I suppose.

[wxman57]

I did read that Wxman, and I would have to respectfully disagree with that statement based on the reports, more detailed statistics I've read over the years, and real life experiences, because there are quite a few other cities that are densely populated that are listed. Not to the extent of Houston, but enough. I am curious to see what happens with our weather in the coming years, because I see it changing. ultimately, it will be a government decisison but until we have a major disaster with a number of fatalities, nothing will get done before then. That's how government works. The whole, "we can afford to lose a few people" kind of attitude, I suppose.

The key is a densely populated city next to a tropical sea (Gulf of Mexico). All the cities you mentioned are well away from the Gulf, a source of many weak tropical funnels.