Marion County tornado sirens sow confusion and panic

Marion County Emergency Management needs to change the siren policy to only activate for tornado warnings.

The current policy of activating sirens for severe thunderstorm warnings during a tornado watch causes confusion and mass panic. Even meteorologists on local television had to explain this policy, because it’s so confusing, while also reporting on the actual tornado on the ground in Winchester.

How is this putting public safety first?

According to ConsumerAffairs, 97% of Americans own smartphones. Nearly all carriers send alerts to these devices for NWS warnings, Amber Alerts, etc. These are effective ways to appropriately broadcast weather situations that do not endanger residents. I implore the local EMA to consider this proposal seriously and initiate discussions to revise the current siren policy.

Our community’s safety is paramount, and implementing targeted siren activations for tornado warnings is a crucial step toward achieving this goal. Johnson County’s policy is right, and Marion County should look to the south to get theirs right, too.

Corey Trojanowski lives in Indianapolis.