As tornado season barrels into St. Charles County, local emergency management officials are strengthening their calls for community preparedness, pointing to a long history of destructive twisters in the area. The urgency of these warnings is punctuated by the events of March 14 when the first tornado warnings of the season resulted in power outages and damage to homes in the West Alton vicinity.
Jani Albright, the County Regional Emergency Management Director, cautioned the public about complacency. "People always think it won’t happen here, but it has before and it can again," Albright told St. Charles County's official website. Despite a network of 144 sirens spread across the county, Albright emphasized that these are not sufficient for those indoors, particularly "at night when people are asleep." In the previous year, the county’s outdoor warning sirens were activated eight times across five different days, with two instances occurring during the nighttime.
The vulnerability of the region to twisters is well-documented, with the National Weather Service noting 52 significant tornado incidents in St. Charles County since 1883. Examples range from a 1915 twister that traversed Wentzville, O'Fallon, and St. Peters, to a massive 2013 tornado that caused significant property damage, albeit resulting in only minor injuries.
To combat this threat, Albright emphasizes the importance of having a NOAA Weather Radio, which she assures, "is going to wake you up in the middle of the night." For a relatively modest investment of $30-$40, these radios can be procured at retailers such as Walmart or Target. Moreover, she suggests keeping a well-stocked tornado survival kit in your shelter area and utilizing the FEMA app for up-to-date alerts and warnings. These preparations, Albright believes, can make the critical difference in guaranteeing personal safety during severe weather events, as per St. Charles County.
