Tuning in: Weather radios for those most at risk

Robert J. Kupec, BS

doi:10.5055/jem.2008.0029

Authors

Robert J. Kupec, BS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2008.0029

Keywords:

tornados, mobile homes, weather radios, history of weather radios

Abstract

In 2005, a tornado killed 25 people in a Mobile Home Park in Evansville, Indiana. Spurred on by this disaster, the state of Indiana passed a law in 2007 requiring that all new manufactured homes come with a NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) Weather Radio. Members of the Indiana Congressional delegation introduced similar legislation in the US House of Representatives (House Bill H.R. 2787), which passed on October 30, 2007. The bill has since moved to the Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs. Since 2000, over 50 percent of deaths from tornadoes have occurred in mobile homes. NOAA weather radio is now accessible by 98 percent of the population, but user ship remains low. More emphasis should be made to notify the citizenry of this vital resource.

Author Biography

Robert J. Kupec, BS

Natural Resource Management, Soil Science Department, North Dakota State University Fargo, North Dakota.

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