THe Boy Scout Camp in Iowa

[SAHMIL]

I don't know if it was posted earlier or not, but I can't get my mind off of those poor boy scouts in Iowa. How scary was that experience and how admirable was the courage of those who stood up to the challenge of taking care of their peers. I feel so sorry for those families and those poor mothers!!

What I want to know is was there any advance warning like any sirens in the area that could have warned those poor people? If not, why not?

[KBecks]

What a tragedy. I think the camp is probably far away from towns of any size, etc. for a siren.

[writermama]

What I want to know is was there any advance warning like any sirens in the area that could have warned those poor people? If not, why not?

I've been thinking about that, too. Not in a way to blame the camp, but as a way to prevent this sort of thing in the future. I know that there are weather band radios that will broadcast alerts -- I think they constantly monitor for alerts and then come on if one is issued. If I understand the technology and if it works in that location, I think it would be a good idea for any camp to have one. I don't believe they are even that expensive.

(I've been thinking about this because I drive around in my car listening to CDs so I wouldn't know if there were weather alerts or emergencies.)

ETA: This is the kind of device I was thinking of -- I just searched Amazon for "Weather alert" but the key words seem to be S.A.M.E., NOAA, and alert monitor -- some of them are less than $100.

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-WR-100C-Weather-Hazards-Emergency/dp/B0000AMK36/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213367295&sr=8-4

[khm]

They did take cover, so they seem to have had at least a little warning. One guy said they did have spotty cell coverage, which is more than nothing.

My understanding is that the kids in the one of the shelters fared the worst though. Flying debris, etc. It sounds like the shelter took a pretty direct hit, and they'd have been better off outside. Something like that isn't really predictable though (ie, the EXACT path).

Very, very sad.

[brittone2]

We don't live in a particularly tornado prone area (we're in NC) but we've been having a lot of tornado watches/warnings this summer in particular.

We have been doing quite a bit of camping in our little pop up with the kids and we try to listen to the radio if we suspect bad radio (or my mom calls us on our cell if there's a warning for a tornado).

When we went 2 weeks ago we had a tornado watch or warning and we opted to drive into town with the kids and dog and have dinner, etc. so that we were in a larger, solid building vs. our little pop up. Fortunately the storm fell apart and all we got were a few rumbles of thunder that time around.

I was so sad to see the news about the events at the Boyscout camp. What an absolute tragedy.

[maestramommy]

Tragedy and triumph at the same time. It was amazing that all the training done the day before kicked in and the scouts were able to tend to the injured, rescue people, and in general clear the way for the official rescuers to get them out.

I'm so sad for the families of those lost. And "proud" of the other boys. So many mixed feelings.

[caheinz]

There were sirens. What they didn't have were *any* underground shelters at all. (As heard on the news this morning.)

[KBecks]

There were sirens. What they didn't have were *any* underground shelters at all. (As heard on the news this morning.)

That's a good point. We were on a family fishing trip last year in a rented cabin during some possible tornado weather and we were told where the underground shelter was if we needed to take cover. The cabin owners were very good about communicating with us. Hopefully more camp sites will prepare better with shelter space because of this.