MSU student conducts surprising weather readiness survey

GOLDEN TRIANGLE AREA, Miss. (WCBI) – According to WCBI’s Chief Meteorologist Keith Gibson, over 50 tornadoes have touched down in Mississippi since April 13.

Both Mississippi and Alabama are currently leading the nation in having the most tornadoes so far this year.

However, recent data showed that not everyone is prepared for severe weather.

New numbers showed that Millennials and Generation Z get their severe weather information from non-traditional sources.

Alex Forbes is a sophomore meteorology major at Mississippi State University.

After a recent storm blew through the Golden Triangle Area, including Oktibbeha County, Forbes took to social media to find out how students were getting their weather information.

“There is a new generation in college now. It’s Generation Z. Millennials have kind of moved on, so there’s new responses to the same types of issues that get issued by the national weather service,” said Forbes.

He said the results to his survey were surprising.

“The alerts that required action were the tornado sirens going off. The sirens, I guess, scared people, and that’s what got them to go to their safe place rather than a tornado warning popping up on their phone,” said Forbes.

Gibson said relying solely on tornado sirens can be dangerous.

“You may or may not hear them. They may or may not work. Some communities sound them for tornadoes, some just for wind, some for wind and tornadoes… It’s nice that people heard them, but you need some context behind these sirens. You need to know why they are sounding. If you don’t know why they are sounding, then the sound is no good for you,” said Gibson.

Gibson also said other sources of information like local television and weather radios are vital.

“Always have multiple ways of getting warning information. Don’t rely on one source. One or two sources could fail you and that could put your life in jeopardy,” said Gibson.

According to Forbes, this is something the next generation needs to work on.

“Very few college students have weather radios. So, meteorologist always say ‘go get your weather radio, have it programmed for the right location.’ I can’t stress that enough for college students. Especially moving forward once they leave college because it is the number one source for weather information straight from the national weather service,” said Forbes.

Weather experts also said it’s important for everyone to have a plan of action and a designated safe place when it comes to severe weather.