GOSHEN, Ohio — Goshen Township will not be addressing its weather siren system after part of it didn't go off before Wednesday's EF2 tornado, township administrator Steve Pegram said.
For some residents, there was little to no warning before the tornado tore through town. Goshen Fire Chief Edward Myers said the storm hit just seconds after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning, which is when warning sirens are activated.
"It all happened in like, it was like seconds," said resident Scott Patton, who lives down the road from the fire station. "My phone went off and 15 seconds later, the tornado came through."
Patton was in his basement until water started rushing in.
"I came running back, ran through the house and I (saw a) tree fall through the kitchen window ... came around the door and watched their roof come off," Patton said.
During a press conference to address the tornado, its damage and what the township's next steps are, Pegram said the siren system is outdated technology that shouldn't be relied on.
"The first thing we would tell people is, outdoors warning sirens are just that, they're outdoor warning sirens," Pegram said. "They were designed as very old technology back in the day when really it was to alert people that were playing outside and people that were working outside."
He went on to add that residents are not supposed to hear the sirens in their homes.
"It's not a primary source of notification. A lot of people rely on it for that," Pegram said. "But that's really not the purpose, and it's really old technology."
Pegram recommended people follow any of the agencies — such as the Ohio Emergency Management Agency or county and local police and fire departments — that will push out weather phone notifications and alerts. The WCPO app is also a useful weather resource tool, where you can get push alerts about severe weather threats. Click here for the Apple Store and here for Google Play.
"The most effective thing is putting the app on your phone so you get the weather alert," Pegram said. "That's how I got alerted, and literally [my phone] went off and 30 seconds later the tornado hit."
Pegram said it's all about efficiency, and that people will get a better alert through those apps than a siren system, which is why he doesn't plan on addressing the systems and the fact that they didn't go off in such a dire situation.
"So, the infrastructure's not there and it's just old technology," Pegram said. "We maintain the systems we have, but we didn't have cellphones 20 years ago, so we relied on sirens. Now we have cellphones."
Meteorology professor Dr. Jana Houser said it's critical to have multiple ways to receive warnings, like through a phone, TV and battery-powered weather radio.
"Especially in the case of a tornado and potentially high winds, storms can very easily take out cell phone towers, and if a cell phone tower goes down as a result of damage or power outage, then you're not going to necessarily get the warning on your phone," Houser said.
In many cases, like in Goshen, seconds count.
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