Changes to Oklahoma Tornado Siren Systems Coming After Monday Storm Outbreak

If you've lived in Oklahoma for a while, you likely know how the tornado siren system works in communities across the state. When there is inclement weather and the threat of tornadoes or intense enough winds, officials flip the switch and the sirens sound across the whole coverage area.

I remember a Spring 2019 Saturday morning when I woke up to the sound of sirens. In the chaos and confusion of what was happening, I laid back down and accepted that if it was my time, I'd go out comfortably in bed.

Turns out, the EF2 tornado that fired off sirens in my neighborhood was +/-15 miles Southeast of me in a completely different town that shared our local siren alert system. Much like in-home modern smoke detectors, if one goes off, they all go off.

The root of the problem.

While we're all collectively thankful for the alert system, and as we try really hard not to look a gift horse in the mouth, it's very outdated. That's not to say there haven't been strides in technology over the years but to make something so important, it almost requires an older technology for the sake of reliability.

In the same sense that "they don't build things like they used to," while the siren system is old, it works... but after the latest round of severe storms, change is coming.

The updates will start in OKC.

It makes perfect sense that any updates to the siren system should start in a place like the OKC metro. It's a gigantic sprawling cityscape of communities that stretches across the plains.

1.4 million people hear the tornado sirens at the same time. If there is a reason to sound the horns anywhere in The Metro, they all sound off across the entire 6400-ish square miles.

People have become so used to this, a scenario where sirens don't exactly mean danger, a majority of people ignore the sirens altogether. Instead of taking cover, this is the universal call to all Oklahomans to get to a window and look outside.

The change.

Oklahoma City announced today that they plan on regionalizing their tornado sirens to only sound in areas that will be affected by the weather. Meaning if sirens blow in Moore, they won't also go off in The Village some 30 miles away.

The idea is to be able to warn specific populations directly in the path of a tornado instead of panicking everyone in Central Oklahoma.

Once OKC goes through the motions and develops a proven way and reliable way to do this, it'll spread to every community not only across the state, but everywhere else in Tornado Alley.

The goal is to change Oklahomans' perception of tornadic events. In the near future, hearing sirens will mean a direct threat to you personally.