CrazyC83 wrote:I wonder what lessons will be learned? I think the NWS Service Assessment will be a great read. I am sure there will be one, probably out in early 2012.
For one thing, if what I've understood about the Birmingham tornado is true - that people died while sheltering in basements - then the old adage about the only way to survive an EF5 (assuming it is rated that) is apparently only true some of the time.
Another thing that strikes me is that many (me for one) apparently thought - erroneously - that the days of super high tornado death tolls numbering in the hundreds from tornado outbreaks was a thing of the past given today's technology, media, advanced warning, better construction methods, etc.
I should have known better on that one - I used to think that a hurricane death toll above 1,000 was also a thing of the past. Then came Katrina.
Other things come to mind:
* that tornadoes do indeed travel down mountains/steep hills (the Alabama video);
* the power of social media (I followed the outbreak here and on television, but I learned most of my information about what was happening via Twitter);
* and how horrifying watching something like this unfold live on television can be. I will NEVER forget watching James Spann walk people through the Tuscaloosa tornado as it chewed through town or Jeff Morrow talking with Dr. Greg Forbes on TWC as that massive tornado traversed across north Birmingham in the background.
