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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 28 october 2019
Mayor wants better system than hand-operated tornado siren

By JIM SALTER to make the descending
Associated Press "whirr." It sounds like an
With a tornado bearing old-time police car. The
down on the small Missouri process is simply repeated
town of Sparta, the lone continuously until the threat
warning siren stayed silent goes away.
because a downed tree Davis, a mother of two,
kept the mayor from get- isn't thrilled with the pros-
ting downtown to flip the pect of driving through a
switch that activates it. potential deadly storm to
Most tornado sirens are ac- the small shed-like building
tivated remotely by com- housing the siren. "I have to
puter, but not Sparta's. The get into my car and drive,"
old siren is hand-operated Davis said. "When everyone
from a tiny building that is trying to take shelter, I'm
once housed City Hall. Only running into town." It's an
the mayor is authorized to odd system for sure. Den-
set it off. nis Mileti, former director of
So when Mayor Jenni Da- the Natural Hazards Center
vis got a cellphone alert in Boulder, Colorado, said
just after 1 a.m. Monday This Oct. 23, 2019 photo provided by Andrew Hogan, Administrative Assistant for the City of Sparta, he's never heard of one like
that a twister was heading shows the tiny Missouri town's single tornado warning siren. Sparta's. Terry Cassil, opera-
straight for Sparta, she was Associated Press tions chief for the Missouri
about to jump in her car. State Emergency Manage-
It was no use. A large tree the twister's power first- mayor in April and is a life- The hand-operated warn- ment Agency, said newer
blocked the street near her hand when her husband long resident of Sparta, ing siren, which sits atop a siren systems are typically
home. had to strain to pull her sis- a town of 1,900 residents telephone pole in the cen- activated through soft-
"There was absolutely noth- ter inside, out of the raging about 35 miles (56 kilome- ter of town, was added ware, either through the 911
ing I could do," Davis said. "I wind. ters) northeast of Branson. about two decades ago. center or from the emer-
felt horrible." Overall, though, Sparta She recalled that when she To activate it, the mayor gency manager or sheriff's
The category 1 tornado was lucky. No one was hurt. was a girl, a firetruck would flips a switch that winds office. Most older system
damaged several local But Davis knows something drive around town sound- up the siren, making an are activated through sig-
homes and downed trees has to change. ing its siren when a tornado ascending "whirr" sound, nals sent from two-way ra-
and power lines. Davis saw Davis, 34, was elected threatened. then flips the switch again dios or pagers.q

Dutch inventor unveils device to scoop plastic out of rivers

By MIKE CORDER happy with the machine.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands "It has been used for 1 1/2
(AP) — A young Dutch in- months in the river and it's
ventor is widening his effort doing very well, collecting
to clean up floating plastic the plastic bottles and all
from the Pacific Ocean by the rubbish," he said.
moving into rivers, too, us- Slat said he believes 1,000
ing a new floating device rivers are responsible for
to catch garbage before it some 80% of plastic pouring
reaches the seas. into the world's oceans and
The 25-year-old university he wants to tackle them all
dropout Boyan Slat found- in the next five years.
ed The Ocean Cleanup "This is not going to be easy,
to develop and deploy a but imagine if we do get
system he invented when this done," he told his audi-
he was 18 that catches ence of enthusiastic sup-
plastic waste floating in the porters, who whooped,
ocean. clapped and cheered
On Saturday he unveiled his announcements. "We
the next step in his fight: A could truly make our
floating solar-powered de- oceans clean again."
vice that he calls the "Inter- Slat used his live-streamed
ceptor" that scoops plastic unveiling to appeal for sup-
out of rivers as it drifts past. Young Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, right, unveils the Interceptor in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Satur- port from countries com-
"We need to close the tap, day, Oct. 26, 2019. mitting to clean up their
which means preventing Associated Press rivers and businesses pre-
more plastic from reach- pared to inject funding and
ing the ocean in the first trash already floating in the ocean from beaches, rivers Vietnam — and a fourth is help with the operation of
place," he said, calling riv- world's oceans. Experts say and creeks, endangering heading to the Dominican the devices.
ers "the arteries that carry 9 million tons (8 million met- marine life in the oceans, Republic, he said. The vessel is designed to be
the trash from land to sea." ric tons) of plastic waste, including whales . Izham Hashim from the gov- moored in rivers and has
Slat's organization has in including plastic bottles, Three of the machines have ernment of Selangor state a shaped nose to deflect
the past drawn criticism for bags, toys and other items, already been deployed to in Malaysia was present at away larger floating debris
focusing only on the plastic flows annually into the Indonesia, Malaysia and the launch and said he was like tree trunks. q