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.
Tornadoes of 2011
Another severe weather event developed on February 27 and continued into February 28 across the Midwest and South. While a large portion of the damage was due to damaging straight-line winds, at least 35 tornadoes were reported across several states. The most destructive tornado was in Franklin County, Tennessee on the afternoon of February 28 where one person was killed by an EF2 tornado. It was the first killer tornado of 2011. Another strong tornado, rated EF3, resulted in houses destroyed near Eminence, Kentucky. Concentrated tornado activity also occurred in parts of Missouri and Illinois with 22 tornadoes in the region, some as strong as EF2, related to a series of squall lines with many embedded tornadoes. None of those tornadoes resulted in any fatalities. Overall damages from this system amounted to $12,800,000.