Tornado Of 1925 Case Analysis

According to NOAA, the Tornado of 1925 was classified as one of the destructive and deadly storms. The following information about the storm is based upon the National Weather Service account. The tornado moved across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwest Indiana, it remained on the ground for over 3 hours with winds over 300 MPH. The storm left 695 people dead, 2,000 injured and 15,000 homes destroyed. The Tornado of 1925 still maintains storm records even to this day, the longest continuous track of a tornado on the ground stretching 219 miles, over 3.5 hours on the ground and the greatest number of tornado fatalities in a single Illinois city (NOAA News, n.d.)
During the time of the Tri-State Tornado of 1925 emergency management
Although advancement in technology and appropriate weather notifications were established in 2011 but, there were still emergency management deficiencies which were identified. The recommendations included, improved weather warning communications to convey the sense of urgency, confirm weather warnings sent through text messaging, weather radio, social media and other public notification platforms are consistent in reducing confusion and stress (NOAA, 2011). Even though the technology today allows for immediate news and incident alerts that are received on our smart phones but, there is a concern about inaccurate information being disseminated from other sources. This same inaccurate information also holds true with the weather. In my area there are other weather sites on social media which do not necessarily concur with that of a trusted weather sources like the National Weather Service. During many of our past large storms these other weather sites would cause hype of the forecasted weather. I hear coworkers and friends reference a pending significant storm as insignificant because of the inconsistencies between the trusted and non-trusted sources, when it is important to consider the storm significant. I am confident that many other areas have similar issues with weather and news information but, I agree with the lessons learned
First, it is necessary to conduct community education on the differences between a watch and warning. Secondly, emergency management leaders must orient its community on the importance of each notification that may be disseminated via social media. The community must understand the importance of the alerts and be aware of the necessary preparedness steps. Lastly, emergency management leaders must think out of the box to reinforce weather alerts by bringing the information home and personal. My home town notifies the local community through CODE RED notification system with a recorded message. The message states; “The Upper Township Emergency Management along with the Mayor (stating his name) are reminding all residents of Upper Township of the current weather and alerts issued by the National Weather Services”. The message also reminds the residents to make sure they take storm precautions by having flashlights readily available as power outages may be likely due to high winds, charged cell phones and whatever information may be essential pertaining to storm preparedness. Although, my town reiterates the information form the National Weather Service but, when a resident receives a phone call from their home town officials, it not only makes it personal,