Surviving Tornadoes through Awareness and Reaction

Illinois Emergency Management Agency

National Weather Service

Illinois Insurance Association

The mission of Surviving Tornadoes through Awareness and Reaction (STAR) can be divided into three parts: 1) the ability to receive early warning that severe weather is on the way; 2) an awareness of what to do and how to react in the event of severe weather, and the importance of a safety plan; and 3) consideration of tornado shelters, especially for residents of manufactured or mobile homes.

The state, federal and private groups listed above have joined forces to try to mitigate the effects of tornadoes on communities before the tornadoes strike, and we are inviting communities to join us in this effort. We are particularly interested in extending this program to residents of manufactured home communities.

Statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the past 15 years indicate that more than half of this country’s tornado-related fatalities were residents of manufactured homes. That is a particularly alarming statistic when you consider the small percentage of people who live in manufactured homes.

We are in no way suggesting that manufactured homes are not a good choice of a place to live; we are saying that there are ways to improve your protection from severe weather and that is the goal of this program.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) has initiated a program whereby communities can apply for grants to provide individual tone-alert weather receivers to residents of manufactured homes, as well as to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, day care centers, police, fire and emergency services agencies. The program to provide the tone-alert receivers is a pilot program, and thereby limited in scope, but the hope is that communities might follow up with their own programs or public-private programs.

The tone-alert receivers provide instant watches and warnings for a given geographic area and fill the void between outdoor warning systems and television and radio warnings. The outdoor warning systems may not be heard if you’re out of range or if you have your windows closed, the air conditioner on and a television or stereo playing, and TV and radio warnings are helpful only if they are turned on. We believe that the tone-alert receivers can be as valuable to your safety as smoke alarms.

Receiving a severe weather alert is just half of the safety equation. The other half is how you respond. Do you have a safety plan? Where can you and your family go for shelter if you receive a tornado watch or warning? If your children are at home alone, do they know where to go and what to do during a tornado? Do you practice your plan at least annually to make sure every family member knows what to do?

The Illinois Insurance Association and its member companies have helped by joining with IEMA and the National Weather Service to produce this public awareness web site with links to these and other related agencies. The web site includes tornado preparedness and planning information, tornado data, detailed information on the tone-alert weather receivers and the ability to electronically file a grant application. Feel free to download and distribute any information from this web site.

The issue of shelters is more complicated, but STAR is committed to pursuing cost-effective plans for tornado shelters in manufactured home communities with the help of the Illinois Capital Development Board. Our long-range goal is to construct a pilot shelter. This also is an initiative that we urge communities to consider.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. You can access IEMA by simply clicking on the IEMA logo.