Warnings of siren overuse?

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my concern over the city’s use of the warning sirens. After 12 years of living in Hudson, I must honestly say I’ve grown rather deaf to their sound.

After being woken up in the middle of the night to the sirens several times and finding no imminent warnings on the TV channels, my family has become very complacent when they go off. Our experience leads us to believe the sirens go off when the sky gets gray or the winds pick up a bit.

In my opinion these sirens should go off when there has been a tornado spotted indicating families should head to their basements for safety. In light of the recent tornadoes that have come through Hudson, I just hope that other families haven’t also become complacent resulting in unnecessary injuries.

I encourage the city to take care when sounding the sirens so people can tell when there is a true emergency instead of just another instance of the city crying wolf.

Editor’s note:The sirens are activated by the St. Croix County Emergency Communications Center (not the city). They are activated based on warnings (severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings) issued by the National Weather Service).

Tags: weather warning sirens, opinion, letters