Seven Years Since Joplin Tornado

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Joplin tornado, 5:35pm, before reaching the city.
Photo taken from behind by the Basehunters.
Used under license agreement.
Path of Joplin Tornado
Today is the anniversary of a terrible, terrible occasion: the Joplin Tornado of 2011. There were 161 people killed. The number of deaths was inflated due to issues with the warnings; it was the worst failure of the warning system since it began in the 1950's, and due to the fact the tornado could not be seen as it moved across Joplin (the photo above was taken from behind). The photo below was taken from the path of the tornado looking right at the tornado. It was invisible.
Photo by Jaime Green
People could not see the tornado coming nor were they receiving an effective warning.

The story of what went wrong is in my book, When the Sirens Were Silent. It is a dramatic story that illustrates how to make sure nothing like this happens again.
Sirens also contains comprehensive tornado safety rules for home, for schools and for businesses.

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