It is imperative residents of the central Great Plains use the forecast to prepare for damaging winds and, perhaps, a tornado or two. Tornado Risk The brown area has been moved south into northern Oklahoma and now includes Bartlesville, Ponca City, Enid, and Stillwater, in addition to the cities shown. In Missouri, it includes Joplin and Nevada. Destructive Thunderstorm Winds Here is the color code: Pink and hatched: High risk of destructive winds of 75 mph or stronger. Red and hatched: Enhanced risk of wind gusts of 75 mph or stronger. Yellow: Significant risk of winds 60 mph or stronger. If you live in the red or pink areas, I urge you to prepare for the potential for power outages, some could last a day or more. Bring in lawn furniture or trampolines which could blow about and crash into other objects -- increasing damage. Put your car in the garage or carport.
I have not had a chance to read much about the Joplin tornado yet--are you getting information as to why the death toll is so high? It appears that the sirens went off, but did they fail in some areas?
ReplyDeleteNo warning failures of any kind that I know of. It was a very large and extremely intense tornado, the type that if you are not underground or in a "safe room" you probably will not survive.
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