Some residents in Dunwoody say there's no system in place to warm them when dangerous weather is approaching.
Dunwoody was under tornado warning last Thursday when this damage was done, but resident Gerri Penn said that none of the neighbors heard sirens.
"The only reason we went to our basement was because our son happened to be watching TV and called us and told us there was a tornado warning for Dunwoody," Penn said.
The National Weather Service reports that an EF-1 tornado lifted just before getting to Dunwoody, but severe winds still did damage. Throughout Dunwoody, trees fell on houses, roofs were crushed and cars were reduced to rubble.
"If this had happened in the middle of the night, houses like that where someone could have been sleeping -- we could be dealing with injuries or worse. And I think this should be a wakeup call for the city of Dunwoody," Penn said.
The area hasn't had tornado sirens since DeKalb County sold them to Cobb County in the 1980s. Dunwoody City Councilmember Denny Shortal said that he'd like to see sirens in the city, but the last time it came up for vote, it didn't pass. He wants the issue addressed again, believing with Dunwoody's history with severe weather, they could make a big difference.
"Every indication that I have, they have an indication that they could save lives," Shortal said. "In my opinion, tornadoes are the number one thing that could cause a high number of casualties or injuries amongst our citizens."
However, some residents told FOX 5's Julia Reynolds that they don't want sirens because they don't want their taxes to increase.
Dunwoody does have a code alert system. It's a phone app, but a lot of the people said they did not get the alerts until after the storm was already out of here.
4 comments:
Is it fair to assume there is no grant available for sirens like there is for 12 ft wide concrete roads thru parks or removing lanes from existing parkways? Is it equally fair to assume that if there were then unnamed "staff would recommend" sirens and we'd have fair warning when we're about to die in a storm?
Just asking...
Sirens are needed, and with a life-safety issue, one must put aside snark and pol points of view.
The hi-tech phone app is great, AND we need another warning layer to overcome smartphone deficiencies. Those deficiencies were evident to me at O'Briens when those whose phones activated did not see Dunwoody on the warning.
Everyone would have reacted differently if they heard this unmistakeable sound:
http://youtu.be/GVz6lEe6s9g
Dunwoody needs to investigate the capital and operating costs of sirens in terms of Souls per Dollar.
By my rough reckoning, a capital cost of $500,000 divided by 50,000 residents equals $10 per soul.
Fire and EMA officials should be responsible for this necessity. The citizens of Dunwoody deserve the control of items such as this through the offerings of a North Dekalb Fire Authority or the like. I have seen first hand what Dekalb offers and believe me those of you who are skeptics, you may want to rethink your opinion on developing your own services. Property taxes can be reduced as we'll as competency levels restored. Think about this.
@Max - How did your "injured Hawk" fare during the recent storms?
You never did give any of us an explanation????
Post a Comment