The Great Tri-State Tornado is considered as the deadliest tornado to hit in the history of the United States (Thomas, 2001). On March 18, 1925, a deadly tornado tore across Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana killing hundreds of lives and leaving thousands injured. The impact of the tornado came from its rapid movement, monstrous size and long track. During the tragedy it was pinpointed that weather forecasters lack the technology to predict, identify or even track severe weather conditions. The communication for Weather forecast was not systematized then. During that fateful day, there were no Weather forecasts heard on radios. There were no tornado sirens to provide with an appropriate warning (Johns, 2012).
In short, people were surprised and where only knowledgeable of the deadly tornado when it hit them. After the event of the Tri-State Tornado, the forecasting of weather was prompt to advance. In the current system of weather forecasting, there are at least four National Weather Services Offices that would monitor storms even before their actual formation. There is also now a Strom Prediction Center in Oklahoma, which would issue tornado watches for the three-state area. The weather satellites, models and radars run on computers that provide advance information regarding storms.
The United States government learned a lot from the event, and invested on equipment that increased the ability of a forecaster to predict the power of a storm even before it hit the region. They do want to repeat the deadly event that took the lives of many unsuspecting people. However, the event was repeated when yet another powerful tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. In May 22, 2011 Missouri was struck by a catastrophic EF5 Multiple-vortex Tornado. The tornado took away 158 lives and left 1,150 others injured. The damage of the tornado amounted to $2.8 Billion in total (Murphy, 2011).
Despite the advancement efforts of the US government following the tornado in 1925, communication coordination for the warning signals is still in need of improvement. The 2011 touchdown in the east of Kansas state first, the early onset of the tornado managed to bring minor damage in the southwest of Joplin. The intensity of the tornado was not predicted causing the people to be once again surprised by the immense wrath of the disaster. There must be a systematized method to at least estimate the magnitude impact of the calamity in order to conduct early evacuation for citizens, this method will not only spare the lives of individuals but also reduce the risk of miscommunication on the part of citizens. Miscommunication is prevalent in times of disaster that is why there is still a need to device a method of information proliferation that can reach the citizen as the fastest way possible. The information that will be relied, however, needs to be accurate to avoid unnecessary panic that may lead to other serious problems. Due to the changing times brought upon by climate change, the disasters are becoming deadlier that is cooperation and proper coordination is needed in order to save lives and properties.
References:
Johns B. (2012). The 1925 Tri-State Tornado's Devastation In Franklin County, Hamilton County, And White County, Illinois. Bloomington, IN:
Murphy K (2011). UPDATE 1-Powerful tornadoes kill at least 31 in U.S. Midwest. Retrieved
idUSN2213101220110523
Thomas P. (2001). F5/F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental
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