In the 1940s the US Weather Bureau banned the words “tornado” and “hurricane” unless they were denying one existed, leading to the lack of understanding of tornadoes. Due to the ban, the worst forecast meteorologists could make was “isolated severe thunderstorms”, thus resulting in lots of deaths. The bureau also spread myths about how to survive a tornado, like opening your windows in a twister, that almost always lead to more destruction.
old air raid siren, chenoail, 2017
modern multi-tone siren, gray-wsaw, 2017
The National Weather Bureau was studying the science behind tornadoes and on how to warn the public. It was decided in 1887 that there should be no warnings issued for tornadoes. They believed that these warnings would only cause more chaos and harm. The bureau thought that people would see the warnings and panic and not take the right precautions.