CAMERON, MO — The Region H Outdoor Warning Siren (OWS) Working Group has been developing guidelines for the activation of outdoor warning sirens during severe weather events. Members of the group met with local officials, collected data, and conducted research to help develop standards for activating the warning sirens. There is concern that the public has become desensitized to warning sirens. A National Weather Service damage survey following tornadoes that struck in Alabama in 2011 and at Joplin in 2011 indicated that outdoor warning sirens seem to have lost urgency since people were hearing sirens for various circumstances unrelated to threatening weather — and people just ignored the sirens. The guidelines developed by the working group recommended that a standard date and time be established for the monthly test of the outdoor siren system in the 15-county Region H area of Northwest Missouri. Tests are to be conducted on the first Wednesday of the month at 11 a.m. to coincide with the weekly test of the NOAA All Hazards Weather radio by the National Weather radio, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.
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