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.
1998 Gainesville–Stoneville tornado outbreak
The immediate Gainesville area is no stranger to deadly tornadoes. It was the site of the fifth deadliest tornado in United States history on April 6, 1936, during the Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak, where two tornadoes merged into a very large F4 killing 203 including 70 at the Coopers Plant Factory. The tornado occurred only 12 hours after an F5 struck Tupelo, Mississippi, killing at least 216 (with others being unaccounted for), making it the fourth deadliest tornado on record including storms before 1950. Another tornado hit Gainesville in 1903 killing at least 100.