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Are Tornado Warning Systems Adequate? KSU Survey Investigates In the aftermath of the May 4, 2003 tornados that hit parts of Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, a KSU geography professor, Bimal Paul, and three of his graduate students visited 23 communities to conduct interviews with local residents to establish if they had adequate warning before the tornados struck. The research, funded by a Quick Response Research grant from the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder, examined whether access to tornado warnings is different in rural areas than in larger communities.
Paul said the larger communities, when compared with the rural areas, had better warning because they are equipped with multiple warning systems. “Larger communities have not one warning system, but multiple warning systems,” Paul said. “If you miss one warning, suppose on the radio, then you have the television broadcasting the warning and sirens giving you the warning.” Lack of warning systems is the biggest difference between large communities and rural areas, Paul said. “In rural areas there is no siren,” Paul said. “The siren is located in the community and people in the rural area surrounding the communities are isolated and cannot hear the siren.” Neely Station, Tenn., had nine total fatalities during the May 4 tornados. Although the tornados struck at midnight, Paul said that even so, with adequate warning system, lives there could have been saved. Paul said rural areas should have multiple warning systems, but funding is one of the problems that these areas are facing. Shane Csiki, KSU graduate assistant in geography, who helped conduct the interviews, said he agrees with Paul.
Overall, Paul and Csiki agree that warning systems were adequate during the May 4 tornados. Out of 129 respondents interviewed, 115 were aware of the tornados before they struck. The 14 respondents who were not aware of the warning were sleeping as the tornados struck their community. This was the case in Tennessee where the tornados hit after midnight. “What we found, except at nighttime in Tennessee, was that all other places integrated warnings,” Paul said. “The people involved in delivering the warnings and the media did an excellent job. They saved many lives.” There are safety measures that residents in rural areas can take, said Paul. He suggests purchasing a weather radio from any local electronic store or investing in a safe room for the home. Paul said he would like to see state and federal governments step up to the plate and help fund these safety measures. At the present time, Paul is studying people’s compliance with the warning. He said just because people have access to the warning system doesn’t mean that they will respond appropriately. Complying with a warning is the next step to assuring safety. Story sources: Bimal Paul, KSU professor of geography, and Shane Csiki, KSU geography graduate assistant.
Story prepared by Richard McNeal
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