In the past month, two events occurred. In Perry, Mich., a EF1 tornado hit the city and NO siren sounded. That was because one siren was destroyed by the tornado. Fortunately, no one died in the tornado.

In Lahaina, Hawaii, a wildfire burned through the town and no sirens sounded. They are still counting the dead.

In both cases the lack of a warning siren was indicated by residents as significant. What this says is that people are dependent upon sirens for alerting them to a dangerous situation. Cellphone alerts are nice, if you have a phone, if the phone is turned on, if you haven’t silenced it to sleep or for another reason. TV and radio announcements for an emergency are effective if you are watching or listening at the time. But a warning siren is hard to ignore and will at the very least get a person’s attention.

Independent sirens in various locations are the most effective form of public warning systems. Since there are no sirens in Dickinson County that I am aware of, I would encourage people to buy a NOAA weather radio. It may save your life.

Editor’s note: Pete Schlitt, Dickinson County deputy director of emergency services, said the county does have two warning sirens but both are on the Menominee River and not used for severe weather alerts but to signal a possible breach at the Twin Falls and Quinnesec dams. Schlitt said after a tornado and downburst hit the Iron Mountain area in September 2002 the county looked into a siren system but the cost was considered too high. Now, most everyone has a cellphone that can deliver such alerts, he noted, adding that keeping the phone on is recommended. The NOAA radio is a good suggestion but reception can be spotty in some parts of the county.