Tornado Warning

I grew up on the plains of Texas in the city of Plainview. Even if you’ve never been there, you get the picture from the name. My family farmed in that area for generations, and so I had the great fortune of growing up on a farm. During the spring and early summer every year, we would see our share of “Tornado Warnings” on the TV screen at night. This was back before the advances in radar could pinpoint tornadic activity precisely, so the warnings tended to be vague and cover large areas. Sometimes these storms would actually produce a tornado, but more often than not, the storms would pass with no sight of a promised tornado.

There were exceptions to that rule. I have seen several tornadoes on the ground during the daylight hours, and even a couple through lightning strikes at night. One of the advantages of living out there in “plain view” was that we could see for miles in every direction. It wasn’t that hard to see it coming, and take shelter in most cases. Personally, I was thankful we had a basement when I was a child, and honestly miss having one where I live today for that very reason.

This past spring brought a stark reminder to all of us that tornadoes can and do turn deadly at a moment’s notice. Even with all the advancements in technology to predict and track these awesome storms nature produces, they cannot be controlled, and therefore must be respected. I have friends, family and clients in the Oklahoma City / Moore area who can bear witness to this fact.

If you do not live in the area of the US where we experience these storms, then I am speaking greek to you, but if you do – what is your plan when that warning is issued? Does your family have a plan of where to take shelter in your home? Do you all know where and how to meet up if you are separated at the time of a storm?

How about where you work? Does someone have a plan for your office building? Should that person be you? If not, how can you find out what that plan is?

One of my clients related a story to me last year that she was trying to get a message out about a tornado in the Dallas area last year. She was sitting in a closet with her 100 pound dog, trying to craft a message to the employees located in the area. And then her internet connection went down. The plan failed. People weren’t given timely and appropriate instructions for their location. Honestly, it could have been bad. Fortunately, it wasn’t for them.

xMatters brings a unique solution to the market for such situations. In fact, you can launch these notifications directly from your smartphone in a few clicks. How much better would that work than your current plans? Check us out at http://www.xmatters.com and reach out for more information.