Last week, I wrote about the city’s tornado sirens having the potential to save lives when audible and heeded but how some areas of the community could not hear—let alone heed— them. As Monday night and Tuesday morning of this week brought more severe storms to the area, Creek County was issued a tornado warning. However, as the sirens sounded this week, many local residents heard the sirens where they previously proved inaudible. Citizens in those areas of the town gratefully reported drastically increased audibility as the sirens sounded.
With the arrival of the storm just before midnight, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and high winds of up to more than 60 mph were reported by storm trackers in the Bristow area as of the time of writing. Several storm chasers were reportedly in the areas of Stroud, Milfay, Depew, Bristow, and Gypsy, tracking the storm and tornadic development in Lincoln and Creek Counties.
Although Bristow, thankfully, did not experience an actual tornado during that late Monday night storm, residents with whom I spoke expressed sincere gratitude for the increased volume of sirens and advanced warning.
Please continue to provide helpful feedback to Bristow Fire and Police departments, regarding the audibility of sirens and accessibility of shelters as we all work together for better safety within the community. Please continue to reach out to neighbors, friends, and family with shared warnings and to verify safety. As promised, I will follow up with locating sirens and helping to address any additional concerns as well.
Finally, be sure to thank City of Bristow employees, the fire department, and the police department for their hard work and due diligence in keeping residents safe.