Emergency communication system
161 people were killed and at least 990 injured when an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Because Joplin is located in a tornado-heavy area of the country, many people considered the tornado sirens routine and ignored them. Instead, many residents waited until they received confirmation from another, non-routine, source, such as seeing the tornado, a radio or TV report, or hearing a second siren. In the aftermath, an assessment team recommended that emergency warnings take risk perception into account to convey a sense of urgency. NOAA Officials are considering ways to change the warning system to distinguish smaller tornadoes from more deadly ones.
May 1995 tornado outbreak sequence
Another tornado outbreak which the National Weather Service issued a high risk for occurred in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The tornadoes that occurred on this day resulted in three deaths all from the same tornado that moved through Montgomery and Boone Counties in Indiana just west of Indianapolis. A tornado also hit the eastern sections of the Indianapolis area causing damage to dozens of structures but no injuries. Several destructive tornadoes also touched down south and west of the Peoria, Illinois Metro Area including two F4s that resulted in 50 injuries.