Tornado Sirens For Lubbock Would Be A Giant Waste Of Money

It is very unfortunate that some people died as a result of tornadoes in Granbury Texas.  It's also unfortunate when anybody anywhere dies of a natural disaster.  When it comes to preventing deaths from these causes there are a lot of knee-jerk reactions out there and I'd like to insert some common sense into the mix.  More after the jump.

The chances of you being killed in a tornado are 1 in 2,000,000.  That is the same as the chances of you being hit by lightening or by falling out of bed.  In contrast there is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of you dying while in the bathtub, a 1 in 700,000 chance of being killed by a dog, a 1 in about 500,000 chance that you'll die of an accidental gun discharge, a 1 in 25,000 chance of being gunned down by someone else and a 1 in 5000 chance of dying in a car crash.  When it comes down to it, tornadoes are one of the things we need to worry about least.

Now, some folks want to put giant sirens in town to warn people of impending tornadoes.  Let me ask you this, do you pay attention to car alarms anymore?  Lubbock is also so spread out that it would take a giant system of interconnected speakers to get anywhere close to covering the city.  I'd rather take the same money and build a park or something. I'm aware that with global warning it's possible for some type of super system to pull together and really do some damage, but still, putting sirens in for tornado warnings is a ridiculous proposal.  The key to staying safe is monitoring events on your t.v., radios, internet and weather radios, and looking out for your neighbors. Beyond those basic safety measure I'll take my 1 in 2,000,000 chances.