Thursday, May 21, 1998

Public safety at Dyess

Congratulations to officials at Dyess Air Force Base for their public safety considerations in installing an outdoor warning system to alert base residents of natural disasters -- a natural move for a base located in "Tornado Alley."

The outdoor speaker system, which could double as an attack warning in the unlikely event of an enemy strike, can be activated with a pre-recorded message that announces, "This is a tornado -- take cover, take cover."

Dyess officials said the safety issue was a primary factor in the base's decision to replace its old warning system from the '50s, which -- like Abilene's old tornado sirens -- were unreliable and unsupportable. Perhaps city officials could learn from their innovative counterparts at Dyess about the value of such a modern tornado warning system.