Tornado Tragedy in Upstate NY Sparks Urgent Debate Over Sirens

In the wake of the EF1 tornado that tragically struck the Town of Kirkland this summer, taking the lives of twin six-year-old girls and a woman in Clark Mills, many Central New Yorkers are asking a tough question: Why didn’t more people get a warning?

A recent report from Spectrum News explored how tornado alerts are currently issued in Upstate New York and whether installing traditional sirens could help prevent future tragedies.

How Tornado Alerts Work

According to the National Weather Service in Binghamton, tornado warnings are sent out using something called WEA, or Wireless Emergency Alerts. Those are the push notifications you get on your phone when something serious is happening nearby.

But these alerts are only sent to phones within a certain “polygon” area, so if you’re outside of that shape, your phone might not go off…

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