This Is An Emergency Alert...Or Not

I saw a post on social media yesterday afternoon and I thought someone had made a mistake, or the post was old. Last Friday we were told storms would be rolling into the valley on Friday and Saturday. We did get the storm, but Sunday looked pretty good. So when I saw the post about severe weather heading our way, I thought it was for the night before.

Then I heard a buzzing sound coming from the TV and interrupting a somewhat important soccer match. The screen went dark and the warning came up. 

"The following is a message from the Emergency Broadcast System."

Bad weather was on its way. Based on the message we were about thirty minutes out from severe weather that had already affected several counties. I went outside and snapped a picture of the oncoming event.

Turns out, we didn't experience any severe weather, or even mild weather. For us the storm didn't materialize as expected. The mass message could have bypassed us (much like many of the soccer passes...) and we would not have had to concern ourselves with the potential threat.

I'm not dismissing the system here. I remember living in Colorado on the edge of the plains. In the spring and summer there were almost daily tornado warnings because the broadcast area where we were extended all the way to Nebraska. I know the value of having such a system in place. We were just one of the lucky ones last night.

You know, they really should engage that system when temperatures reach above 100˚ fahrenheit. Because to me, that's severe weather. Maybe I'll make that suggestion.

Preparing For..."The Big One"

A few weeks ago we participated in an emergency preparedness drill. We were to act as if our area suffered a major earthquake. Like many areas where major fault lines run underneath us, it's good to be prepared, but unlike other quake-prone areas, we don't get a lot of small earthquakes, a la California or Japan. It seems we're living in a place where we either have no earthquakes, or a really really big one.

We began by hearing a recording play over the speakers. We heard a rumbling sound with a message telling us that we were not experiencing an earthquake. Our job--get under our desks. 

From there we took the stairs and then exited the building. We gathered across the street and waited for the "all clear" so we could return to work. The last time we did this I took out my good camera and snapped a lot of pictures. I was pleased with those shots. It was a lot of fun. This time I just took my phone.

The state spent a lot of money to put on this exercise. I believe all state buildings along the Wasatch Front took part as well as many non-government organizations. How effective was the drill? It's hard to say. I suppose practicing what you'll do in an emergency is helpful. I just don't know--if the damage is as bad as some say it will be when "the big one" hits--it might not make any difference.