In the wake of deadly tornadoes in south central Iowa in early March and the December derecho that spawned at least eight tornadoes in north Iowa, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has introduced the Tornado Act, in an effort to upgrade technology and improve warning systems.
Seven people were killed in Iowa tornadoes on March 5th and Grassley notes that the National Weather Service confirmed technical issues caused some delay in tornado warnings – including a maximum delay of seven minutes for a warning issued for the storm near Winterset, classified as an EF-4 tornado. Grassley says every second counts in severe weather, and that means life-saving alert systems must be functioning at full speed with up-to-date technology.
There were no deaths reported from the December 15th tornadoes that struck north Iowa, but the system itself that day left five people dead as over 60 tornadoes in all were confirmed across Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota.
Grassley, a Butler County native, is no stranger to tornadoes hitting close to home. A May 2008 tornado struck Parkersburg and his hometown of New Hartford, killing nine people and destroying some 300 homes.
