Hope you all remain untouched!
For the curious, here is a great archive of coverage of the 4/3/74 tornadoes by WHAS (scroll down the page). Fascinating listening!
Sadly, it’s hard to find coverage of that caliber these days. Most radio stations have eliminated their news departments, and their “programming” comes from a satellite feed, complete with voice-tracked DJs who pre-record their comments days or even weeks in advance.
When I lived in northern Mississippi (no stranger to severe weather), I walked out of Wal-Mart one stormy night, just as the tornado sirens blared. As I drove home, I turned the radio to a local station that I knew was voice tracked. Sure enough, the DJ said we could look forward to a “warm evening, with just a chance of isolated thunderstorms.”
Residents of northern Kentucky and southern Indiana are lucky to have a station like WHAS that has the staff (and inclination) to cover breaking news. But in much of the country, relying on local radio to warn you of severe weather can be a dicey proposition.
And what’s worse, much of the public pays little attention to weather warnings when they’re issued. That was one of the major findings from the Joplin disaster last year. Many residents continued with their usual routine, even as local broadcasters warned of the approaching storm, and the sirens wailed. In one case, a couple out for Sunday dinner became miffed when they were turned away from a restaurant which closed because of the tornado warning. They kept driving around until they found a restaurant that was still open. Never occurred to them to return home or seek shelter.
What was G.B. Shaw’s famous line about fools and Americans?