That storm was on radar for 420 miles. It had pretty much consistent tornado warnings posted on it the entire trek across Kentucky from Paducah to London. In my opinion the NWS wasn't slacking at all and did a phenomenal job. Sadly, in EF-3+ twisters if you are not underground you're in major danger.
I run a meteorology page on FB that has 30,000+ followers. Way back in February I talked about how this spring would be a very active severe weather season. So far we've had two floods, one of which was the worst flood in 46 years, and multiple severe weather outbreaks. Another coming in less than 12 hours as another system pulls strong dynamics into Kentucky today.
We've been using 2011 as the "analog" year figuring that the way the overall patterns matched up at the end of winter would give us clues about spring. 2011 was the year Joplin, MO was hit and we had a lot of activity across the Ohio Valley region that year. Our suspicions have sadly been correct.
Your comments are timely and IMO correct. I am in KY and I pay attention to the weather. There's no farmer who does not. People's lives and our livestock, structures, equipment, and our crops are in peril in these events. And there seem to be more now than in my long ago youth.
As PonyTug noted earlier, maybe we need...a plan. In rural KY, a house trailer may be all folks can afford. And it's death on wheels in a tornado. As are many older houses out there in the country. But few strucures can take a direct hit from a tornado. No, we can't protect everyone with a personal shelter, but perhaps some centralized system of defining existing buildings to go to or community shelters to be built. But the point is it can't just be an ad hoc thing - it would have to be a true "system" with a defined structure. And more education of the public in general about buying in to such a plan.
As I write this, I am watching the Governor, Laurel County Sheriff, and local officials explaining a mandatory evacuation of people from debris fields using school buses or cruisers ahead of today's storms coming again to KY. They are trying to keep people safe and opening up places to put them. Government and municipal resources from across KY have been deployed to the London area to help, and many private folks are coming as well. I am always proud of my state during these times...
Now, a last thought. Is there waste in "government?" Yes, in some places, primarily due to Congress, as opposed to the executive branch, be it Democrat or Republican. And Congress is...us. But for Heaven's sake, stop cutting essential government services based on a bunch of young people running algorithms on a laptop without any real understanding of mission areas.
Attacking the scientific bodies within the government such as the National Weather Service is just...nuts. That forecaster on TV is relying on NOAA's satellites, supercomputers, and NWS weather balloons and the analysts from the NWS to provide accurate information. Because of cuts, the Jackson County, KY forecast staff can't even provide 24/7 coverage anymore. But they did, by coming in to work at night to keep people safe as I understand it. Yeah, you're damn right I'll pay their salary as a taxpayer.
Go after the waste, the political fat, DEI, whatever, but leave the essential services out of it. And have the brains to know which is which.
