The dozens of injuries and one casualty caused by the tornado that hit Watford City last summer has the McKenzie County Emergency Management team thinking ahead. The department is willing to try anything to prevent other incidents from happening during future natural disasters.
Karoline Jappe, the Emergency Services Manager, took to Facebook to suggest one device she says could better prepare people if another tornado hits in the future.
The TornadoAlert is a device that works like a radio, and senses the energy tornados give off. It has a 30 mile radius, which would give residents in McKenzie county up to 30 minutes heads-up if there is tornado near them.
Last summer, there was not an alert for Watford City when the tornado hit because weather service radars do not currently cover the area, and it happened so quickly that residents did not have time to prepare.
“The tornado had come and gone. We had police officers out in the field. It was so black in Watford City, you couldn’t tell that there was a tornado, and it was 12:35 at night,” said Jappe.
The tornado destroyed temporary housing and trailers, injured, and killed people.
“The oil field provide one of the biggest resources in this country, but at the same time, we need to protect the people that are working in the oilfield and living in the oilfield, and the people that have always been here,” explained Jappe.
Jappe says that it will be trial and error until more permanent fixes are made, stating, “Will it work or not? I don’t know, but at this time I am willing to try anything because I don’t want to be in a situation where I can’t alert the residents of McKenzie County. That is not a good feeling.”
She says if it works, hopefully it will prevent tragedies like the one that occurred last summer. Emergency Management is working on plans for a more permanent fix that will be presented to the McKenzie County commissioners on March 19.
By Aleisa Tanner (2019, Mar 5) KFYR-TV
