Belton Emergency Management Agency--BEMA

OUTDOOR WARNING SIRENS

Change is inevitable. Such is the case with the city's outdoor warning sirens. Soon, the City of Belton will be installing a new outdoor warning siren system, replacing the old system, some sirens being 50 years old or more. This new system will be computerized with a battery backup in case of power failure. Due to the nature of the new system the Noon time siren test will no longer take place however, an audio test of the system will take place the first TUESDAY of every month.(Weather Permitting)This new system will make the City if Belton an even safer place to live, replacing 17 old sirens with 8 new sirens that have a larger coverage area.

The new sirens are up and running. The monthly test, 3 minutes, will start on the first Tuesday in October and every month thereafter.

Chris Osterberg
Director, Emergency Management

Emergency management is charged with:

1. Identification of hazards, and maintenance a plan of action for the city in the case of a community-wide emergency that would exceed the normal capabilities of the city’s emergency services, public works and the residents.
2. Education of Belton residents on what actions they should take in the event of a community-wide emergency.
3. Along with the National Weather Service and in cooperation with other emergency management and safety agencies in the area, to provide warnings for dangerous weather such as tornadoes or floods.
4. To serve as a direct aid to the Mayor and City Administrator during a community-wide emergency and through prior preparation and direct action at the time, to ensure that aid would flow from volunteer¹, state² and federal³ sources during the recovery phases of the post emergency period.
   1. American Red Cross, Salvation Army (for example)

      http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster

      http://www.salvationarmy.org/

   2. SEMA (State of Missouri Emergency Management Agency)

      http://www.sema.state.mo.us/semapage.htm

   3. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency
      
      http://www.fema.gov
      

IDENTIFIED HAZARDS TO OUR COMMUNITY:

1. Severe thunderstorms including tornadoes.

   http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/ttl.pdf

   Flash flooding. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/ffbro.htm

2. Severe winter weather. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/wntrstm.htm

1. Disruption of normal city services (electricity, heating fuels, water).
2. Earthquakes.
3. Terrorism.
4. War.

EDUCATION (a few things to know/plan for):

1. NOAA Weather Alert-Tone radios are an essential start to your weather safety and would also be a source of reliable information during some other types of area-wide emergencies.

   http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/index.html

2. Tune to local television stations (preferably 4, 5, 9, 41) during stormy weather. If you have cable service in Belton, city safety people can "break in" with warning or other important information.

You live in Cass, County, Missouri" any weather warnings issued for Cass Country, northern Cass  County, western Cass County or northwestern Cass County

1. Keep a few survival items; flashlights, extra batteries (also a fresh battery for your NOAA Weather radio), candles, etc., in a place where you know they can be found in the dark/in a hurry.
2. Know where you would go in the event of an emergency (such as a tornado warning), AND GO THERE IMMEDIATELY WHEN* WARNED. Never leave a "safe" place to go elsewhere. http://www.fema.gov/mit/tsfs01.htm
3. Do not walk close to a flooded area. Never ever for any reason drive though a flooded area. No one in Belton lives in a life-threatening flood area and there is no reason to drive into one. What ever is on the other side of that flood will happily wait for you until the flooding subsides.
4. If a warning is in effect, or if a catastrophic event has just occurred, do not use your phone (cell or otherwise) to make ANY calls except to report injuries or to report damage that is an immediate danger. [What if you were injured and couldn’t get through on 9-1-1??]
5. If asked to evacuate your neighborhood (post catastrophe, chemical spill, radioactive release etc.) go quickly. You will be united with your love ones soon, and your property will be secured by emergency workers.
6. What else should you think of? Nearly as many people are killed and injured by lightning as from flooding and lightning kills more folks annually than do tornadoes. Usually they are out having fun in the seconds just before lighting strikes. When the thunder comes, stop having fun, and go inside thus ensuring many days of fun in your future.
7. Anything else? Occasionally a community might be faced with a "boil order" for its water system. Specific instructions will be delivered over local news. Basically though; if it goes in your mouth in anyway, boil that water at a rolling boil for no less than 3 minutes (let it cool first). Throw away ice from ice makers. Only boiled water should be used to wash and rinse dishes or fresh food. A couple of drops of bleach/gallon water will add further protection AFTER BOILING.

BEMA’s Role in Providing Warnings for Tornadoes or other severe weather for Belton

Belton’s capabilities for warning of tornadoes consists of many features to ensure that a sufficient warning is given to Belton residents in the unlikely event of a tornado. BEMA is also an important part of the National Weather Service’s spotter network in south-central portions of the Kansas City area.

BEMA has 20 trained (annually) and long-experienced (most more than 10/several more than 20 years) volunteers as visual spotters of severe weather. Each is equipped with one or more radios capable of reporting severe weather back to the Belton Warning Point/EOC located on 174^th between Benton and Chula Vista or to the city’s main dispatching point/9-1-1 center, co-located with the Belton Police Department. Each of those facilities has back-up electrical service. BEMA also has a mobile communications van and considerable two-way radio communication in its other vehicles (along with fire and police).

At the Belton Warning Point, numerous radio frequencies** of surrounding safely agencies are monitored including two-way contact with many, including directly to the National Weather Service office in Pleasant Hill, Mo. Radar information is received on a fast internet connection and directly from BEMA’s own stand-alone radar tracking system. Two trained meteorologist are available at the Belton warning point to assess radar and other weather information—a luxury few other communities anywhere in the U.S. have., including the largest cities in the country. Several TVs are used to monitor local TV weather reports. There is a direct, dedicated telephone line to the Belton dispatching/9-1-1 center.

Some of the BEMA volunteers are deployed inside the city—where along with Belton Fire, Belton Police and Belton Public Works employees--they are a part of the warning capability, should the first development of a tornado occur immediately over our city. Like the fire and police, the BEMA volunteers deployed inside the city limits are in vehicles equipped with sirens to augment* the 13 outdoor warning sirens that are scattered around the city (*or in place of, should electrical power to the outdoor sirens fail).

Other trained volunteer spotters are deployed (many miles) outward from the city from which severe weather might be approaching. The deployment of spotters outside of the city means several extra minutes of warning time should a tornado develop elsewhere, while leaving police and fire personnel in the city for their normal responsibilities during the whole of the watch period.

In the unlikely event of a tornado, sirens on police, fire and BEMA vehicles would be sounded, the city’s 15 outdoor warning sirens would be sounded, a voice message would be put on all channels on the TV cable system for Belton, Belton’s schools (all public schools are currently equipped and service has been offered to private schools) would be warned via special radio devices. Radio messages would sent out to surrounding communities on special radio frequencies, including the National Weather Service, to advise them of the threat here and how that threat may affect other places. That information could in turn be passed to Kansas City TV and radio stations so that others can warned too.

BEMA volunteers are storm spotters and not storm chasers. This is a not a passing hobby or "thrill" for these volunteers, but a dedication to their little community and the surrounding greater community.

Should damage from severe weather occur in our city, BEMA volunteers would also then be available to aid in various ways the other city departments in restoring our city, including helping with traffic, sheltering, clean-up, directing responding safety agencies from other cities to critical areas in our city and providing the necessary communication and direction to having all these responses working in the most effective way. All of this effort will only work to save lives if YOU take the appropriate action when/if a warning is sounded for Belton.

AND WHAT SHOULD JOHN Q. AND JANE P. BELTONITE DO TO BE ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR A TORNADO?

Know where you will go if a tornado warning is issued.

Have some awareness of the day-to-day and hour-to-hour weather, especially March through June.

If a tornado or severe thunderstorm WATCH is issued on your *NOAA Weather Alert radio or the TV or Radio, check you emergency supplies, batteries, etc., figure out where the kids are, tune your TV to a local channel, (NOT HBO, MTV and not to a VCR movie or video game) and give a moments thought to what you will do on the way to your shelter.

If a warning is issued, GO IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR SHELTER! There is NO all-clear signal from sirens. Sirens will sound for three minutes for a warning. If they sound a second time, then there is still a threat and you should remain in your shelter. Otherwise, wait for an all-clear from the National Weather Service.

If you are outside, get inside. A poor shelter is better than none at all, or lie in a ditch or depression.

If you are in a car (also known as a bad/hard-to-steer airplane capable of short bumpy flights in a tornado), stop your car, get out and lie in a ditch

*NOAA Weather Alert Radios will wake you up if you are sleeping, and your very own radio will ensure

that you get a weather warning even if you can’t hear the sirens inside your home. The NOAA Alert

radios can also be used for other types of warning information that you need to know, whereas the sirens

are only set off for tornadoes.

**BEMA operates on Belton’s Local Government frequency during severe weather; 155.145Mz

Other scanner frequencies for regional weather will include 154.28Mz (fire mutual aid) and 154.13 the

(MEMC’s) link of EOCs and the National Weather Service. SkyWarn (a HAM radio band reporting

severe weather to NWS) operates on 146.82Mz. Other HAM channels used for severe weather in the

metro area include; 147.12Mz, 146.97Mz, 146.70Mz 145.47Mz and 147.36Mz.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/safety/skywarn/skyradio.php

OTE: Unauthorized transmission on any of the above radio frequencies or dissemination of privileged information may come with stiff criminal penalties.

Codes for S.A.M.E. NOAA Weather Radios:

KC Metro Area (Kansas City Transmitter 162.55 Mz);

Missouri

Cass 029037

Jackson 029095

Clay 029047

Platte 029165

Kansas

Wyandotte 020209

Johnson 020121

Miami 020121

Missouri--Lake of the Ozarks (Osage Beach/Camdenton 162.55 Mz.);

Camden 029029

Morgan 020141

Miller 020131

Benton 029015

Truman Lake (Clinton Transmitter 162.500);

Henry Co. 029083

Bates Co. 029013

See web location: http://205.156.54.206/nwr/sametable for county S.A.M.E (fip) codes throughout the country.

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