BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

CANEY — A barrage of telephone calls to the Caney Police Department dispatcher immediately after the airing of tornado sirens on the evening of May 24 has prompted city officials to educate the public about the intent of the sirens.

City councilors on Monday learned that the Caney Police Department received more than 50 telephone calls from concerned residents when tornado sirens were sounded on May 24 — which was two days after a massive tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo. While a majority of residents responded to the sirens by taking shelter in their own homes or at one of three designated shelter locations, other residents called the dispatcher via 911 to ask why the sirens were sounded.

The fact that some people are unaware of the sirens’ intention alarmed some city officials.

“If the tornado sirens are going, that means there is a tornado on the ground near Caney or one is developing near Caney,” said fire chief Tony McCammon, who is in charge of sounding the sirens. “It basically comes down to this: we sound those sirens when we think something bad is happening or going to happen very soon. So, take cover immediately. Don’t pick up the phone and call the dispatcher.”

On the evening of May 24, storm spotters confirmed the development of a tornado west of Caney, which prompted the sounding of the tornado sirens. The National Weather Service office in Wichita had issued alerts throughout the day that the atmospheric conditions were ripe for the formation of supercell tornadoes. Several massive torandos tore through parts of Oklahoma that afternoon before rumbling into Kansas that evening.

McCammon said the City of Caney’s tornado sirens do not issue an all-clear tone. Persons should leave their shelters with caution and tune into local TV or radio, police scanners, National Weather Service website or NWS radios to see if the storms have moved away from their area.

Designated storm shelters in Caney include:

• First Christian Church at Fourth and Main streets.

• Liberty Church at Third and Main streets.

• Caney United Methodist Church at Third and High streets.

The basements to those three churches are open to the public once storm spotters are dispatched for weather observations, McCammon said.

McCammon and Mayor Dale McBride each urged residents to not call the police dispatcher for weather information, unless the phone call pertains to an emergency situation. The telephone calls to the police dispatcher on the evening of May 24 not only tied down the dispatcher to the phone but occupied other personnel   in the police station that evening.

McCammon also said he was surprised that one caller on May 24 asked the dispatcher if the tornado sirens were being sounded as a test instead of an actual alert.

“We would not blow the tornado sirens as a test during a severe thunderstorm. We only test the sirens on clear days and with advanced notice.”

Caney has four tornado sirens. They are located on the site of the former City Hall at Fifth and State streets, at the Caney Swimming Pool on South High Street, at the Assembly of God Church at McGee and Second streets, and the location of the former Floyd’s Town and Country Supermarket at Church and Main streets.