Though in their defense, the tornadoes in St. Charles last week did sort of come out of nowhere. But still...lots of finger pointing.
Source: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... dde6a.htmlSt. Charles County officials review delay in tornado warning sirens last Saturday
ST. CHARLES COUNTY • County officials are reviewing an 11-minute delay in activating tornado warning sirens last Saturday to see whether any changes are needed.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the county at 3:42 p.m. but the 120 sirens overseen by the county emergency management office weren't turned on until 3:53, said county spokeswoman Colene McEntee.
A tornado touched down at 3:56 near Highway 94 and Old Highway 94, the Weather Service said, damaging businesses and homes in the Harvester-St. Peters area.
In contrast, 14 other sirens operated by St. Peters sounded within three minutes after the Weather Service warning, said city spokeswoman Lisa Bedian.
County officials said the delay occurred after the sheriff's department emergency management division decided against keeping a staffer at its office in the county jail building in St. Charles the full day. That's where the sirens are activated.
Instead, a duty officer monitored the situation remotely, she said. That decision was made, she said, after employees consulted a National Weather Service chat room online and called the service about 11:30 a.m. There was only rain at the time, she said, and no "significant activity" imminent.
When the duty officer was later informed of the tornado warning by a weather radio, she said, he drove to the office to activate the sirens.
She said the county's firefighter and ambulance dispatching office in Wentzville, which can activate the sirens as a backup, also was notified.
Fred Glass, a senior Weather Service meteorologist, said St. Charles County staffers apparently made an incorrect inference from the chat room discussions. Glass said no one at his office recalls talking with a county staffer that day.
Glass said a siren delay is unusual. He said his office will work with county officials to "minimize the chances of it happening again."
County Executive Steve Ehlmann said "if there are ways we can improve, we certainly are going to do it."
Rod Zerr, a former county emergency management director who is running for executive in this year's elections, said county residents should be "outraged" at the delay.
Bedian said St. Peters' sirens are activated by city police, which is staffed 24 hours a day. St. Louis County's emergency operations office center isn't staffed all the time but county warning sirens are activated at county police headquarters which is staffed around the clock.
