In tornado season, words save lives

SOMETIMES you just have to say it like it is: new wording for tornado warnings may have saved lives.

More than 100 tornadoes struck the US Midwest last weekend – the most severe outbreak so far this year. But the death toll of six people was very low compared with similar outbreaks in recent years.

That seems in part to be down to research about how people respond to warnings. After the US’s deadly tornadoes in 2011, the National Weather Service (NWS) found that residents waited for visible signs of the threat before responding. New warnings try to conjure those images in words.

Tornado warnings in the past said things like: “You should activate your tornado action plan and take protective action now.” But this time residents in Kansas were told: “Mass devastation is highly likely, making the area unrecognisable to survivors.”

Won’t these words also dull with time? Mike Hudson of NWS acknowledges it’s a possibility – one that will be evaluated in further storms this year.