When an F5 tornado hit parts of Trumbull and Mercer Counties in 1985, the National Weather Service office at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (which is now out of operation) couldn't even get a tornado warning out over crippled communication lines.

After Friday night's tornado outbreak in the Midwest and South, perhaps the only solace is that communities had as much as 30 minutes lead time.

"The technology, we are way behind," says Trumbull County EMA director John Hickey.

Trumbull County has 23 sirens, along with others not specifically allocated for weather warnings.
But the NWS doesn't issue warnings for entire counties anymore, and those technology limitations Hickey speaks of mean every one of those 23 sirens will still go off if a tornado warning is issued anywhere in Trumbull County.

"We are trying to upgrade that," Hickey said. "And when we do, we'll be able to split or quadrant areas where we don't have to set the whole county off."

Hickey believes even in this day and age, there's still a place for sirens, explaining that many folks feel a sense of security hearing them when threatening weather approaches. But he is eyeing the same electronic alert system Columbiana County uses. He hopes to get it online within the next year.

"It is integrated with the National Weather Service, so the minute the NWS issues any severe weather alert for Columbiana County...it might call their home phone, their cell phone, they can get a text or an email," says Columbiana County EMA director Peggy Clark.

Mahoning County EMA officials say they're in the middle of completely reorganizing the warning system there after a failure last week.
But no matter how good warning lead time is, you still have to sign up for those wireless emergency alerts on your smartphone.
You can also get instant warnings on our Storm Tracker 21 app.

But even then, you still have to heed them.