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.
November 2004 tornado outbreak
Vigorous tornado activity continued on the 24th, mainly across Mississippi and Alabama. However, an F2 tornado tore though the northwest side of Slidell, Louisiana, damaging 152 homes in a single subdivision and injuring 4 people. Numerous tornadoes touched down in Mississippi, with the strongest being an F3 that passed near Noxapater. The Noxapater tornado downed hundreds of trees, tossed vehicles, and destroyed chicken houses. A house was completely destroyed, resulting in a fatality and two injuries. In Alabama, a large F2 tracked across Autauga, Chilton, and Coosa counties. The tornado struck the Cooper community, resulting in major structural damage. Another F2 touched down and struck the Talladega Superspeedway, where two concession stands within the infield area of the race track had their roofs blown off. The Bush Garage area received building damage and the garage doors were bowed out. Debris was scattered between the garage area and Victory Lane. One digital leader board was completely destroyed and another one sustained major damage. The Talladega tornado continued east through Eastaboga and Bynum. In Eastaboga, two homes suffered major roof damage, two porches were destroyed and many trees were blown down. In Bynum, two mobile homes were heavily damaged by fallen trees. One of the trees smashed a mobile home, killing a 75-year-old woman. The tornado caused roof and structural damage in southern Anniston before dissipating. No tornadoes occurred on the 25th. Overall, the outbreak produced 98 tornadoes and killed four people.