Severe Weather Safety Don’t Forget Take a portable radio with you to your Police Services At Home shelter area for updated information on the SKYWARN Go to the basement or an interior room on storm and to learn when it is “all clear.” Resources the lowest level of the building. Get under a Also take a flashlight. Emergency 911 Program sturdy piece of furniture. Non-Emergency 636-529-8210 At Work or School Before the Warning TTY Hearing Impaired 636-529-8220 or 911 Go to a predesignated shelter area. Stay Take heed when weather watches are away from auditoriums and gymnasiums, as issued and when local radio, television or Precincts well as windows. weather radio broadcasters alert you to the North County 314-355-1200 In Mobile Homes possibility of severe weather later in the Central County 314-615-0111 Seek shelter in a more substantial structure. day. Think about what actions you may If it is not available, lie low in a ditch or other need to take later. Affton-Southwest 314-638-5550 low-lying area. Safe Areas South County 314-615-0162 In Shopping Malls It is a good idea to locate a safe area in City of Fenton 636-349-8120 Take cover away from the center mall area your home before a tornado warning is and away from windows. Get under City of Wildwood 636-458-9194 issued; then all family members will know something sturdy. Do not try to escape in West County 314-615-0700 your car! where to go in an emergency without delay. City of Jennings 314-385-4672 Outdoors or in Automobiles Buy a Weather Alert Radio Seek indoor shelter. If it is not available, lie low in a nearby ditch, protecting your head. An excellent investment is a tone-activated weather alert radio. These small units, often with battery backup power, will alert you, much like a pager, of local severe weather conditions. These radios are The St. Louis County Police activated directly from the National Weather Department is interested in citizen’s Service office, providing the most accurate opinions about our agency and its St. Louis County Police Department employees. Please visit the website and timely severe weather information 7900 Forsyth Boulevard available. These radios are available at below and take our survey. St. Louis, Missouri 63105 most consumer electronics outlets and are stlouisco.com/police/survey generally reasonably priced. Proudly internationally accredited by: Visit www.stlskywarn.org for more information stlouiscopolice.com Reprint by permission only. B-22 (07/18) St. Louis County Police Our Training Program Races Amateur Severe Weather Facts • An average of 38 tornadoes develop in SKYWARN Program Taking the Area “By Program Missouri annually. Over 2,000 trained weather observers make up The amateur radio component of the County the National Weather Service SKYWARN Storm” Police SKYWARN Program is affiliated with the • Tornadoes are most frequent in the Program. They are young and old, from all You, too, can be a member of SKYWARN. The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service Midwest. walks of life, and from diverse backgrounds. National Weather Service offers several training (RACES). RACES means amateur radio They have one thing in common – a desire to courses. The courses are designed to assist the operating in emergency situations under the • Tornadoes occur most often in the late help their neighbors by reporting severe weather weather observer in correctly reporting auspices of local government, the St. Louis afternoon or evening and in the spring but in a prompt and accurate manner. These observations. Participants are taught when, County Police Office of Emergency can occur at any time of the day and in any reports are collected by the control operators at how, and where to make their reports. The class Management. Amateur operators completing the season. the County Emergency Operations Center and is supplemented by literature and reporting training program become registered in the relayed to the forecasters at the National information and, following the class, participants RACES Program and are also available for • Wind speeds in a tornado may exceed 200 Weather Service for their study and action. are issued “spotter numbers.” All training is many other emergency service and assistance miles per hour. These reports, supplemented by Doppler radar supplied free of charge and classes are offered functions as needed in St. Louis County. This and other forms of weather data, assist the more than once. portion of the County SKYWARN Program has • An average of 100,000 thunderstorms occur National Weather Service in issuing timely and been in operation since 1955 and has gained the each year in the United States. About 1,200 accurate severe weather warnings that may help This is training that may save your life! Visit the recognition and support of many in the St. Louis tornadoes develop from these storms. save lives. The SKYWARN Program is another National Weather Service website for more metropolitan area. Amateur radio operators in service of the St. Louis County Police information: this program make their severe weather reports • More fatalities have occurred in St. Louis Department’s Office of Emergency http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=schedule. on the 147.360 MHz amateur radio repeater. If from tornadoes than any other U.S. city. Management, which serves the St. Louis County you have a scanner, listen to the network on region. 147.360 MHz. The amateur station at the County How I Do Report Emergency Operations Center is identified on this channel as WBAAF. Know the Difference Can I Help? Severe Weather TORNADO WATCH - Conditions are right for Yes. There are never enough “eyes and ears.” Most SKYWARN weather spotters report by Other Radio Services tornado development, but none have been There are no special qualifications other than a mobile or home phone. Specific reporting sighted. A “watch” is usually issued for a six- desire to help. You do not have to go to any instructions and numbers are provided in training Other radio-oriented components of the County hour period. special locations or be “on duty” for any specific classes. While it is not required to be a weather SKYWARN Program include Civil Air Patrol, periods. Your “watch” begins when severe observer, a large number of spotters report by General Mobile Radio Services (GMRS), St. TORNADO WARNING - SKYWARN spotters weather is in the area, whether at home, work, two-way radio. Two-way radio users can report Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross and/or Doppler radar have indicated a tornado or school or in your car. Special training is required directly from their vehicles or portable handheld and selected area public safety radio funnel cloud. frequencies. and provided by St. Louis County. There is radios, if so equipped. Many of these radio never a charge to participate in the program or users are amateur radio (HAM) operators. Take Shelter Immediately! for training. SKYWARN training is necessary for accurate reporting. .