FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino was helping with disaster recovery efforts in Joplin, Mo., when he spoke to FEMA employees in Kansas City on May 26. While he was at the regional offices with more than 100 employees of the agency, the tornado sirens sounded. Serino is from Boston and offered these thoughts on his blog when the sirens first howled during his meeting.
"Tornadoes?? What???? I'm from Boston. I know hurricanes. I know blizzards. But we don't have tornadoes there too often. This is going to be interesting," Serino expounds.
There was minimal wind damage several miles from his location. In light of the massive tornadoes that killed four people in western Massachusetts, Serino's words are almost prophetic. Just over a week since the devastating EF5 tornado killed nearly 140 people in Joplin, Mo., another set of unique storms caused residents of New England to panic.
The Los Angeles Times also sounded apologetic to the northeast in lieu of tornadoes in the Midwest. Their headline reads, "In tornado-struck Massachusetts, it feels like Missouri." The places may have changed, but the problems are the same.
Much like Missouri, the tornadoes of Massachusetts flipped cars over. People were stuck in their cars on roads when the tornadoes hit. Dramatic footage of both storms were posted on websites.
Perhaps Serino will take his lessons learned from the disaster in Joplin back to his home state. In this worst tornado season on record, everyone in the United States who sees spring thunderstorms need to be prepared for tornadic storms. Later in the summer, the eastern half of the United States gets ready for hurricane season after the tornadoes end. Then as fall time starts, tornadoes form again as warm air masses brush up against Arctic air from the north.
FEMA needs to adopt 2011 as the year of the tornadoes. Americans may need to realize that no single location is safe, even though some states see far fewer tornadoes than others. At least with massive hurricanes, residents get some days advance notice to evacuate. Tornadoes have hours to minutes worth of warning before they bear down on unsuspecting humans.
From Springfield, Mass., to Springfield, Mo., there is almost a culture of "this just couldn't happen here." Unfortunately, monster storms have ravaged almost anywhere in the eastern third of our nation from Alabama to Missouri to Massachusetts.
And just to be safe, try to have those in charge of recovery efforts not jinx our weather patterns. Perhaps Serino shouldn't say much about the upcoming hurricane season and how Boston doesn't see major hurricanes in the summer time.
