Lone Grove, Oklahoma February tornado: response, impacts and lessons learned

On February 10 2009, the City of Lone Grove, Oklahoma was struck by an EF-4 tornado, killing eight people and leaving others injured. Although there was a National Weather Service tornado warning issued in advance of this event and local officials took appropriate actions, including sounding the sirens, many did not seek appropriate shelter. Many factors may have played a role in the response of this event including technology and the digital television conversion. The lack of a suitable shelter and the mythical idea that tornadoes do not occur in February were also possible factors in the decision making process of whether or not to take shelter.

A survey was conducted in the city of Lone Grove, Oklahoma to determine the actions taken by the community as well as their knowledge level, accessibility to shelter and other challenges they faced. Further, this study sought to review what actions the local government officials and media took. The goal of this study is to help determine what can be done to improve response in the future and what efforts can be made through educational outreach and mitigation to prevent further loss of life. Preliminary results will be shown.