SEASON FOR TORNADOES APPROACHES

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The arrival of March means spring weather is close at hand. Unfortunately, it also signals the start of the tornado season in Missouri and Illinois.

In both states, tornado-preparedness exercises were held Tuesday. County emergency operation centers and law enforcement offices sounded statewide practice alerts that went out over weather-service radio stations and public radio and television stations to homes, schools and industries. In classrooms, teachers and students went to prearranged shelters when the alert was sounded.

This is also Tornado Preparedness Week in Illinois, which led the nation in tornado deaths in 1990.

Although tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, which spawn tornadoes, can occur at any time of year, the greatest risk of the deadly storms in Missouri and Illinois is between April and June.

In late May 1949, Cape Girardeau was struck by a tornado that killed at 23 people, injured hundreds of others, and wiped out parts of the northeast area of the city.

The tornado and severe weather season got off to an early start this year in the Cape Girardeau area. A tornado touched down Feb. 13 in Delta, causing minor damage there and between Delta and Chaffee. Golf-ball-sized hail, strong winds and heavy rain were reported between Scott City and Kelso as the tornadic thunderstorm moved eastward from Delta. Up to 8 inches of hail covered the ground in parts of Southeast Missouri.

Last year 53 people died in the United States as a result of tornadoes. Most were killed by debris blown by winds that can range from 100 to 250 mph. In 1989, 48 people were killed nationwide.

Thirty of the fatalities in 1990 occurred in Illinois. Twenty-nine people were killed when a tornado slashed through Kane, Kendall and Will counties near Chicago on Aug. 28. The other fatality occurred June 2, when a tornado struck Browns in Edwards County.

Missouri was more fortunate; there were no tornado deaths in the state in 1990.

According to statistics from the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City, 1,120 tornadoes were reported in the United States last year, compared to 849 in 1989.

Thirty-one tornadoes were reported in Missouri in 1990. In Illinois 50 tornadoes were reported. Of that number, the center said 18 were of the strong or violent category in Illinois, while Missouri had eight such storms.

The number of tornadoes increased last year in both states, compared to 1989, when 13 tornadoes were reported in Missouri and 15 in Illinois.

During the past 10 years, 13 people have died in Missouri as a result of tornadoes. During the same period, 48 were killed in Illinois, including the 30 fatalities in 1990.

During the same 10-year period, 573 tornado deaths were reported nationwide as a result of 3,342 reported tornadoes.

The National Weather Service said that each year more than 100,000 thunderstorms occur in the United States. Of those 1,000, will grow into deadly tornadic thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes.

Of those tornadic thunderstorms, only 15 to 20 produce "killer" tornadoes.

The weather service is placing an increased emphasis on public awareness of the threat of severe thunderstorms. Forecasters have always been concerned that people do not pay as much attention to severe thunderstorm watches and warnings as they do tornado watches and warnings.

The weather service says many people find it hard to believe their home or business was destroyed or damaged by a severe thunderstorm and not a tornado.

Forecasters said a well-developed severe thunderstorm is capable of inflicting as much, if not more, damage as a single, medium-sized tornado.

That's because of the powerful "gust front" that moves ahead of the approaching thunderstorm. Meteorologists say winds along the gust front of a severe thunderstorm are often in excess of 80 to 100 mph. That's 20 to 40 mph above minimum hurricane winds.

Even worse, the gust front may extend along a path much wider than that of a tornado.

Besides their powerful winds, severe thunderstorms also produce dangerous lightning that can kill and heavy rainfall that can result in flash flooding.

Cape Girardeau County Emergency Services Coordinator Brian Miller said there are a lot of things people can do to protect themselves from deadly storms.

"Knowing the right thing to do when a severe thunderstorm or tornado threatens can make the difference between life or death," said Miller. "To know is to live."

Miller said the best way to survive is to be informed. On days when severe weather is possible, keep your radio or TV on. If you have a NOAA weather radio receiver, make sure it is ready to pick up watches or warnings.

"When a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch is issued for our area, be on the alert no matter where you are: at home, in school, or in business buildings," he said. "Make sure you know what to do if a warning is issued. I urge everyone to develop and exercise a tornado or severe-thunderstorm-preparedness plan in your home or workplace."

Miller said the Cape Girardeau County Emergency Operations Center has more information on how to prepare for severe weather. Contact the center at 243-7703 Monday through Friday.