Another spot-on assessment by Dr. Chuck Doswell:
In my experiences here in Norman, the politicians seemed distinctly uninterested in taking full advantage of the numerous subject matter experts in the university and the Norman Weather Center. Similarly, it seems many of those experts have little interest in contributing to the improvement of the community’s preparations for storm hazards. That this is the case here in Norman seems incredible to me. How can we presume to lecture to others about what to do to prepare for storms, when our own community is not a shining example of what can and should be done? Is Norman truly storm ready? I don’t think so! That should be an embarrassment to everyone.
Last December, the National Weather Center hosted a workshop entitled, “Weather Ready Nation: A Vital Conversation.” The stated goal of that workshop was:
Initiate a national conversation among the user, service and science (physical and social) communities, including key stakeholders and America’s weather enterprise, to identify, prioritize, and set in motion actions to improve the nation’s resiliency against severe weather, especially tornadoes, to protect lives and property.
That a city with arguably the highest concentration of atmospheric scientists (academic and research), private weather corporations, and knowledgeable citizenry has proven itself so woefully unprepared is unacceptable. That is especially true considering the impetus for their confederation was the devastating Moore tornado of May 3, 1999. For that community to be so presumptuous as to tell the rest of the nation how to be “storm ready” is laughable. I’ve already pissed off colleagues for saying so, but when I hear terms like “storm ready” or “weather ready”, my political bullshit meter is triggered.