Lucas County officials encourage residents to switch to text alerts for more precise weather warnings after a 2023 tornado exposed siren system flaws.
TOLEDO, Ohio — Following a 2023 tornado that caused widespread confusion with its county-wide siren activation, Lucas County officials are urging residents to adopt a modern text-based alert system for more precise and reliable severe weather warnings.
The call for new methods stems from an EF-2 tornado that struck the Point Place community in June 2023. While the storm produced winds up to 130 mph in that north Toledo neighborhood, skies were sunny just five miles away, leaving many residents perplexed by the blaring sirens.
Lucas County Commissioner Lisa Sobecki said the incident highlighted the limitations of the traditional outdoor warning system.
“It’s a sunny day out here and I live in west Toledo, but then we heard that there was a tornado that happened in Point Place, and then the sirens went off and it went Lucas County-wide,” Sobecki said.
Outdoor warning sirens, a concept dating back to wartime, were designed primarily to alert people who are outside to seek shelter immediately. In an age of busy lives and better-insulated homes, their effectiveness for warning those indoors is limited.
“Those sirens aren’t really to give you that warning inside your home. It’s to let you know outside to take that cover,” Sobecki said.
To provide more direct and timely information, officials are pointing to a variety of modern alerting tools. Technologies from smart watches to NOAA weather radios can send a push alert the moment a warning is issued by the National Weather Service.
Earlier this year, Lucas County revamped its own emergency alert system to better serve residents. The system sends a text message directly to subscribed phones.
The service extends beyond severe weather, offering practical community updates and reminders.
“There’s also other little details on there. It’s not just always weather-related,” Sobecki added.
This article was published by Davis Wells on 2025-09-03 17:51:00
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