14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers from the National Weather Service (NWS) have always been curious as to why some people choose to completely disregard tornado warnings, and rather prefer to ride out the storms in their homes. While trying to answer this question, they have come out with a full report, where they seek to identify exactly what individuals who don't immediately head for shelters think. The team says that the warnings are not in vain, and that, if the sirens start wailing, then there is good reason for it, as authorities would never do it just to make fun of citizens.
The main focus of the new report is the “Super Tuesday” tornado outbreak, which took place between the 5th and 6th of February, 2008. On that day, some 82 tornadoes wrecked havoc in nine US states, causing 57 casualties, $400 million in property damage, and 350 injuries. Investigators from both the NWS and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Societal Impacts Program interviewed a number of survivors of the bleak events, to see what kind of precautions they took once the warnings were issued by state officials.
According to the results of the inquiry, more than 66 percent of respondents were living in mobile homes, and 60 percent of them didn't have access to storm shelters, such as basements, or other reinforced structures. Indeed, most of them did try to find refuge, but didn't manage to, so they had nothing to do in that regard. However, the mistake many did, which could have raised the death toll considerably, was the fact that they didn't take the warnings seriously, because February was not usually the month of the most serious tornadoes or hurricanes.
“Protecting life and property is not as simple as issuing a forecast. A number of barriers often deter people from making risk-averse decisions, and we want to learn all we can to determine if there is more the National Weather Service can do to change this,” NWS director Jack Hayes said. He also added that the warnings issued by the federal service were communicated to competent local authorities a good 17 minutes before the cataclysm struck, and that people knew about them. Yet, some fully disregarded the notifications.
People put themselves at most risk when they choose to ignore the official warnings, and base their decisions on their own observations and assessments of the weather. Those who live in the Tornado Alley, but in other places as well, should remember that federal agencies have access to satellite information that allows them to get the bigger picture, and that, if they issue a statement, things are actually bad. Otherwise, the death toll will continue to rise with every severe storm.