No tornado was approaching Sarnia-Lambton Saturday evening but when the emergency siren system sounded and thousands received phone alerts to immediately shelter, protocols were followed “perfectly,” says the city’s emergency manager.
It proved confusing for many local residents who heard the siren and read the alert to go to a safe place indoors and seek further instructions online, only to discover there was no weather of any concern nearby.
Deputy Fire Chief Dale Gartshore, who is also Sarnia’s emergency manager, said it was Environment Canada that initially issued a tornado warning for Sarnia-Lambton about 6:40 p.m.
A warning means a tornado is imminent and, in this case, a weather threat was spotted in Lake Huron that had potential to land anywhere along the shoreline, Gartshore said.
Ontario Storm Watch is reporting that there was zero threat south of Kincardine. A rotating super cell over Lake Huron was tracking east and heading toward Port Elgin, 200 kilometres from Sarnia. The threat was to a small area between Kincardine and Port Elgin, according to Ontario Storm Watch.
But Environment Canada put out a warning to communities along the entire lake shore, Gartshore said.
The Environment Canada alert sent to the City of Sarnia was the same one received by thousands of local residents, and it was “very non-descript,” he added.
But Environment Canada alerts are not to be ignored. It could mean lives, said Gartshore. “We don’t second guess Environment Canada.”
Instead, the inspector in charge at Sarnia Police Services took immediate steps and followed emergency protocols to the letter by activating the city’s siren system for five minutes.
A five-minute emergency siren indicates that all residents should take cover and check the City of Sarnia’s website (www.sarnia.ca) for details.
In this case, the city followed Environment Canada’s directive and posted the tornado warning.
Simultaneously, anyone subscribing to Sarnia-Lambton Alerts (www.sarnialambtonalerts.ca) received a warning on their cell, their landline or via email.
“We took Environment Canada at their word,” said Gartshore. “I talked to Sarnia Police Services today and said I thought (their response) went perfectly. It was a good job. That’s what we want.”
But he has questions for Environment Canada officials about their protocols that he hopes to discuss with them this week.
“Environment Canada is usually really good at what they do,” Gartshore said. “But I think they could have handled this a little differently.”
Specifically, he would like them to review how large the geographical area is that receives alerts when concerning weather systems form over the water.
“I recognize that trying to decide the path over the lake is difficult but I would have preferred a watch rather than a warning,” he said.
A tornado watch means conditions exist for the potential of a tornado while a warning means it’s closeby or someone has spotted one.
“As emergency manager, I’m really happy the system worked well at our end,” Gartshore said.
However, he’s concerned some people will be prone to ignoring the siren in future since there was no imminent danger on Saturday.
Tracy Krull, spokesperson for BASES, the organization that administrates and pays for the local alert system, said that what happened on Saturday confused a number of people, including her.
“I intend to get a better understanding of what happened because it doesn’t make sense to me,” Krull said.
“I heard the siren and immediately googled Environment Canada and saw nothing on the (weather) map,” she said. “I don’t want our community to not pay attention next time the siren goes off.”