Couldn't hear those tornado sirens? Social Networks may work better for spreading news

In a recent news article at ReadWrite Web, they report on the new study that is being released by the New Scientist. This study indicates that when life threatening situations are occurring, social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and IM, get the news out faster than traditional news sources. We've heard of several examples having to do with the California Wildfires, as well as the Facebook group that was started (I'm OK at VT) to show who had survived the incident.
Here's an example of Twittering taking tornado warnings into account even though the sirens weren't working in Edmond, Oklahoma. Social media has proven to help people avoid dangerous situations, as well as spread need to know news.