Highly Recommended New Book “When The Sirens Were Silent: How The Warning System Failed A Community”, 2012 By Mike Smith

Pielke Sr Research Group: News and Commentary

A new book will be published on May 15 2012 which I highly recommend. It is

Mike Smith, 2012: “When The Sirens Were Silent: How The Warning System Failed A Community”, Mennonite Press, Inc

Mike, Vice President of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, also wrote the outstanding book

Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather (Greenleaf Book Group, 2010)

which I reviewed in my post

Review of Mike Smith’s Book “Warnings” – A Truely Exceptional Contribution To Meteorology

This new book is dedictated to the people of Joplin Missouri.

As Mike writes

This monograph focuses on the warning system and attempts to explain why so many died in Joplin. I do not wish to criticize people and institutions I greatly respect. But I feel obliged to write this because it is critical to understand what went wrong in Joplin so we can build more robust systems in the future. After I tell the Joplin story, I’ll provide you with advice that will help save your life (and your loved ones’ lives) when extreme weather threatens.

As Jenna Blum, New York Times and international best-selling author of The Stormchasers and Those Who Save Us wrote in the introduction to the book

Mike has been studying the efficacy of the American warning system for more than forty years, from its inception to today. In When the Sirens Were Silent, Mike puts his unparalleled experience and acumen to work on the Joplin tragedy. He provides evidence from survivors’ stories, scientifc explanation, and photos of what happened on May 22, 2011. In what you’re about to read, you’ll discover what went so tragically wrong that day for 161 souls who didn’t survive Joplin’s EF-5 tornado—what mistakes were made and what otherwise could have kept them alive—and how you, unlike them, can survive whatever weather this year brings.

For anyone concerned about tornado safety, When the Sirens Were Silent is a must-read. It might just save your life.

Mike also e-mailed that

The softcover book has the safety rules at the end printed on thicker paper and perforated so they can be lifted out and posted where they will do the most good. They are the latest versions of the safety rules for home, school, and office.

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in weather, but, even more importantly, to anyone living in tornado regions!

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