Sibley, Iowa — When severe weather threatens, you need to stay “weather aware.”
That’s from National Weather Service Meteorologist-In-Charge Todd Heitkamp, who also tells us people should have more than one way of receiving weather warnings. We talked to Osceola County Emergency Management Director Dan Bechler, who tells us that people are relying too much on outdoor warning sirens.
He says, in the past, you may have been able to rely on hearing tornado sirens indoors, but people can’t depend on that anymore.
But Bechler tells us that while you may not be able to hear the sirens indoors anymore, there are several other ways to get warnings.
He says it’s very easy to sign up. For Osceola County warnings, all you have to do is text “osceolaia” to 67283. You can also find more information about AlertIowa at https://homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/alert-iowa/
Of course, we here at KIWA are also a great source of live, up-to-date weather information during severe weather. Just tune to 105.3 FM. We’ll tell you about the watches and warnings and the current radar picture to keep you informed during severe weather.
Incidentally, more and more communities are blowing their tornado sirens during other very hazardous weather such as the recent “haboob,” derechos, and other severe straight-line wind events.
