BY BOBBY HALTON
A few years ago, several scenario planners were huddled in an emergency management meeting, trying to determine how to structure a tornado response and recovery scenario for the state of Oklahoma. One of the planners suggested they model the event around an F5—the strongest level of tornado known. The others protested, saying that there had been very few F5s in America so it was inappropriate to base an exercise on an event of that scope. There were concerns that an exercise of the scope of an F5 would overwhelm the participants. The planners eventually all agreed that an F5 event was highly improbable and such a remote possibility that they should plan the scenario on a smaller event. The training would be good enough; it would meet the area’s needs.
A few days later, an F5 tornado tore through Oklahoma City, and 36 people lost their lives. More than 8,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, as were around 120 businesses; estimates are that the tornado caused $1.1 billion in damage, making it the single most costly tornado in U.S. history. There are significant lessons to take away from May 3, 1999, related to being prepared and being safe when conducting operations.
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