Tornadoes hit Oklahoma and Kansas

At least six people were killed in Oklahoma and Kansas as the violent storms moved east, just two days after a tornado killed 122 in Joplin, Missouri Authorities in Dallas evacuated the airport and a baseball stadium on Tuesday night as a new round of tornadoes tore across middle America, just two days after the deadliest twister in modern history. At least six people were killed in Oklahoma and Kansas as the violent storms moved east, striking barely 48 hours after a tornado descended on the town of Joplin, Missouri killing 122. The new line of violent storms caused havoc across a region that has already experienced a severe year for tornadoes. In Dallas, officials bundled people off planes and into a basement beneath an airport terminal building. Fans were evacuated from a major league baseball game. The storms at one point even forced the evacuation of the storm prediction centre in Oklahoma City. In Joplin, hundreds remained missing yesterday after the town took a direct hit from a tornado. The recovery effort interrupted by bouts of severe weather. Two emergency workers were struck by lightening on Monday. Officials estimated about 8,000 buildings were destroyed. The heavy toll spurred calls for an overhaul of the tornado system to help ensure people get out of harms’ way. “We need to ask ourselves, what can we do to protect Americans?” Jack Hayes, the head of the national weather service told reporters. “I have to say, it’s not enough. We have to do more.” He suggested the higher death tolls in recent tornadoes could be linked to demographic changes, with Americans moving into western and southern states that are prone to hurricanes. The national weather service is considering introducing smartphone warnings and other systems. Storm sirens sounded more than 20 minutes before the tornado hit Joplin just before 6pm on Sunday more than the 13- or 14-minute average warning time, said Greg Carbin, the meteorologist who heads the weather services storm prediction centre. That should have been ample time to get to cover. But forecasters are growing concerned that people – especially those living in tornado-prone areas of the south and central United States, are becoming blase about warnings, or that the warnings are not getting through in time. Increasing the warning lead time might even make the problem of complacency worse because it would also affect accuracy of forecasts, said Carbin. That is something we grapple with all the time, said Carbin. “If we want to push the envelope with respect to predictions are we also going to overwarn or cry wolf too often? I would argue that there may be some signs we are already doing that.” However, Missouri s governor, Jay Nixon, suggested some people in Joplin could not hear the tornado sirens over strong winds and heavy rain. When the pressure caused those alarms to go off, there was so much rain, so much hail many of the folks couldn t even hear it, he said. There were similar complaints after last month’s deadly tornadoes in Alabama and other southern states when thunderstorms blew down powerlines and weather service systems, leaving mobile phones as the only means of communication, Bob Henson of the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research said. People tend to confirm a warning themselves before acting. “Did the sirens go off? What is the TV meteorologist saying? What are my family and friends doing?” he said. Fast-changing conditions also lead people to underestimate the danger. United States Natural disasters and extreme weather Oklahoma Kansas Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.