I have one question to which I'm sure our local politicians and bureaucrats can give another lame excuse/answer: Why can't there be two distinct and different warning sirens, one for the nuclear plant and one for a tornado?
Just wondering.
Jane Zollinger
***
'When in doubt, send it out'
In the calendar that TVA provides to residents living within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone of its Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, there is this: "If you hear the sirens ... turn on your radio or television and listen for instructions."
In Sunday's Times Free Press article about weather alerts related to the Easter Sunday tornado approach, officials were reported to have said that "In the case of a radiological event at the nuclear plant, residents are told to leave the area when they hear the sirens."
If officials did say that, then I think they may have forgotten the TVA directives for siren response. Or the officials may have been swept up in the effort to justify the decision not to send an alert to residents.
In hindsight, the reasons the local officials are now providing for not sending alerts sound like excuses, some with little validity.
Residents need to take more responsibility for their own safety during severe weather. Get a weather radio and pay attention to the media, especially when you hear of deadly tornadoes crossing Mississippi and Alabama. And they should not get annoyed by warning system testing.
Officials should follow a "when in doubt, send it out" philosophy about alerts for approaching severe storms.
Terry Johnson
***
Appreciates WRCB tornado warnings
Kudos to WRCB's coverage of the terrible Easter night storm and tornadoes.
Paul Barys and Alison Pryor tag-teamed to give us second-by-second coverage of the wind speeds, direction and time needed to seek safe shelter, complete with maps showing us the intensity of the storms and warnings to stay away from windows and off the roads. This was fine community service when we most needed it.
Thanks, Paul and Alison, for a job well done.
Marjorie Pasch, Hixson
***
Wow, we can just print more money
So four months ago, there was no money to provide minimal health insurance to all Americans or to get the homeless off the streets, but in an instant Congress can conjure up $2.2 trillion to bail out the economy?
"Balance the budget" Republicans disappear into thin air.
John C. Reis
***
Really, this time it's time for Trump to go
Donald Trump just threatened to use dictatorial powers to adjourn both houses of Congress.
For a long time it has been apparent that he has no respect for the Constitution and the separation of powers. Now he has shown that he is willing to act upon these impulses.
It is time to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office.
I can only hope that the elected Republican officials in our area are capable of standing up for the sanctity of the Constitution. So far, they have not shown this ability. There is still time for them to do the right thing.
David Lawson, Lookout Mountain, Georgia