Hello all!   
      
      
   ONe of the things i think hurts us the most when getting the public to use   
   various alerting schemes is the "cry wolf"   
   syndrome.    YOu see it all over our major cities.  Those   
   car alarms that are triggered every time one of the boom   
   boom rides drives by.  AFter awhile, folks just ignore car   
   alarms, often including the folks whose car is yelling for   
   attention.   
      
   NOw, sinc you can't beg many folks to acquire and program   
   one of those NOaa weather radios with the same feature our   
   emergency managers have decided that an alternative is to   
   attack dial every phone in the county to pass along the   
   alert to whoever, or whatever answers the phone.  I got   
   their warning to start making evacuation plans eight days   
   after Katrina, when I could finally access my voicemail.   
   I'd already evacuated, closer to the storm .   
      
   SO yesterday I'm doing paperwork, and the phone rings.   
   YEsterday of course being the third of June.  I pick up the   
   phone and it's one of those two minute canned announcements   
   their machine is supposed to call and deliver to me.   
      
   THe gist of this one.  "Yo man, it's hot out there!"   
      
   DUh!   
      
   Gee if my government wouldn't have told me I might not have   
   had enough intellectual wherewithall to figure out that on   
   the third of June in western TEnnessee chances are pretty   
   goo it's gonna be "hot out there."   
      
   And we wonder why people ignore alerts sirens and the like.   
      
      
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
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