Better Risk Management

The month of April has not been a good one for residents of the southern US.  So far the Storm Prediction Center, America’s central forecast office for severe weather, has received more than 1000 reports of tornados in the month of April.  More than 300 deaths and thousands of injuries are blamed on tornados across Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas.  In Alabama, one of the hardest hit states, the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham suffered catastrophic damage when a reported EF-5 tornado struck leveling entire neighborhoods.

For all the tornado drama that played out in the national media, the emergency is not yet over.  The aftermath of April’s storms has left saturated ground and swollen rivers which is resulting in flooding along the Mississippi, Ohio, Arkansas, Little Red and White rivers.  Over the past 4 days firefighters in Memphis, and many other towns, have completed many water rescues – pulling motorists and home owners stranded in high water to safety.  In an emergency message about the flooding directed to residents of Memphis the message was clear, “This is the time to gather all necessary and important items and be ready and be ready to leave your property.”  In Cairo, Illinois along the Ohio River the entire town was evacuated out of concern that river levees were being undermined by the high water dumped from April’s storms.  Down river, the US Army Corps of Engineers is struggling with the possibility of using explosives to purposely breach levees and flood thousands of acres of farm land to prevent catastrophic flooding in more populated areas.  Without doubt, the consequences of April’s storms are still being felt across the midwest and southern United States.

Credit - simminch on Flickr

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