{"id":5007,"date":"2019-05-02T07:30:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T12:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/?p=5007"},"modified":"2019-05-03T13:21:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T18:21:48","slug":"the-emotional-toll-of-tornadoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/2019\/05\/the-emotional-toll-of-tornadoes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Emotional Toll of Tornadoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kim<\/a>
Kim Klockow-McClain stands at the memorial for tornado victims in Lee County, Alabama.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Researcher Kim Klockow-McClain absorbs the sights and sounds around her at Providence Baptist Church in Lee County, Alabama \u2014 almost one month since tornadoes devastated the community.<\/p>\n

Klockow-McClain wants to tell people\u2019s stories. They guide her effort to create a more complete picture of storms \u2014 not just how they happen meteorologically, but the impression they leave on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

As a societal impacts<\/a> researcher at the University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, her work supports NOAA\u2019s National Severe Storms Laboratory to improve the tools used by NOAA National Weather Service forecasters.<\/p>\n

She wants to learn how emergency management agencies, broadcast meteorologists and NWS forecasters work together in an attempt to impact the public, how they operate individually and how current practices ultimately affect severe weather safety messages the public receives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will kind of be the end of the story for this tornado path that I\u2019ve been following through Alabama and into Georgia.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So on a dewy Tuesday morning, Klockow-McClain stands among 23 white crosses on the church\u2019s south lawn. The crosses are a symbol of remembrance \u2014 of each person who died on March 3 after tornadoes tore through the area. The memorial is disheveled from a storm the night before but some items placed at the base of each cross remain \u2014 including a jar of peanut butter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can just imagine it was their loved one coming up to their memorial saying, \u2018I know you would want your peanut butter,\u2019\u201d she said, tears forming in her eyes.<\/p>\n

She takes a moment, lightly hugs the manilla folders filled with her surveys and questions, wipes her eyes and walks toward the church.<\/p>\n

A visceral need<\/h3>\n
\"mobile<\/a>
VORTEX-SE<\/a> is an effort to understand how environmental factors characteristic of the southeastern U.S. affect the formation, intensity, structure, and path of tornadoes in this region.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Klockow-McClain has a visceral need to visualize things. She says as a geographer she has to see things \u2014 maps, pathways, connections. Making those connections helps her build a map.<\/p>\n

She visited the memorial first to build that piece of her research map and connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to understand the setting, the people and the place \u2014 who they are, who they were \u2014 the people who are gone,\u201d Klockow-McClain said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t come here and not see the memorial. Ultimately, this is about the families who were left behind and the people who died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her research is part of the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-Southeast, or VORTEX-SE<\/a>, funded by NOAA.<\/p>\n

VORTEX-SE is an effort to understand how environmental factors characteristic of the southeastern U.S. affect the formation, intensity, structure, and path of tornadoes in this region. The experiment will also determine the best methods for communicating the forecast uncertainty related to these events to the public, and evaluate public response.<\/p>\n

For three days Klockow-McClain traveled the path of the March 3 tornado through Alabama and Georgia, meeting with those involved in alerting the public and locals who were personally impacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will kind of be the end of the story for this tornado path that I\u2019ve been following through Alabama and into Georgia,\u201d Klockow-McClain said.<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/a>
\u201cWe as researchers can release the best severe weather technologies for our partners, but if people\u2026 can\u2019t use them and don\u2019t want them for reasons we don\u2019t understand \u2014 that helps no one.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her research is focused on how messages coming from an Integrated Warning Team \u2014 emergency managers, broadcasters and forecasters \u2014 serve those living in manufactured and mobile homes, or whether further collective activities may need to be undertaken.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen talking to all of the vested parties \u2014 emergency management agencies, broadcast meteorologists, forecasters and the public \u2014 you see places of great opportunity,\u201d Klockow-McClain said. \u201cWe as researchers can release the best severe weather technologies for our partners, but if people don\u2019t use, can\u2019t use them and don\u2019t want them for reasons we don\u2019t understand \u2014 that helps no one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing purpose<\/h3>\n

Klockow-McClain\u2019s public response survey work first began in 2011 in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, about two hours from Providence Baptist Church.<\/p>\n

Eight years later she revisited where her career began. As she navigates the curves of a rural road, she recounts one of the first times she interviewed someone who had witnessed a deadly storm. The person realized a tornado was near because they felt and heard debris falling on them while they were working on their vehicle.<\/p>\n

Klockow-McClain spoke to that individual for nearly an hour in 2011. Now, sitting in the driver\u2019s side of an SUV and staring at that person\u2019s former home, she retells their story.<\/p>\n

This person was one of 70 Klockow-McClain interviewed in less than one week. They heard meteorologists talk about an elevated weather risk on that day but didn\u2019t think too much about it. That was until while working on their vehicle outside they described house insulation falling from the sky. Klcokow-McClain said the person ran inside their house, grabbed their significant other and animal and shoved them all in the bathtub. That move saved their lives. Describing the hours to come \u2014 losing neighbors, seeing houses gone around them \u2014 Klockow-McClain said she will never forget her hour-long conversation with that individual.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just creating a space for them to talk. I recognize that offers value to people. I use a method that involves care as a core principle. I feel like I\u2019m doing something that matters.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inside Providence Baptist Church, Klockow-McClain is in a similar situation. She sits with an interviewee as they recount graphic details, highlighting every megapixel of that photographic day in March. All of the stories she\u2019s heard don\u2019t impact her personally. Klockow-McClain doesn\u2019t let them. Instead, those stories bring her purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the role as interviewer, you\u2019re equal parts researcher and counselor. I\u2019m just creating a space for them to talk,\u201d Klockow-McClain said. \u201cI recognize that offers value to people. I use a method that involves care as a core principle. I feel like I\u2019m doing something that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

She specifically chose to visit Alabama and Georgia nearly one month after the event because the crisis stage was ending and people were slowly attempting to recover a sense of normalcy.<\/p>\n

Helping people feel heard<\/h3>\n

Klockow-McClain understands her research with devastating tornadoes can be emotionally taxing, but she never views it that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful I get to tell these stories,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a meteorologist, you see these things happen and it can feel terrible to feel like you can\u2019t do anything. So for me, to be able to sit there and feel like I\u2019m helping them by helping them feel heard and their story matters by being a part of a bigger picture \u2014 that is helpful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/a>
\u201cResearch isn’t just about going out and collecting observations of… atmospheric factors. It’s about relating to people deeply enough that you really and truly can understand the context of what they’re telling you.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She lets the person being interviewed steer the interview, no matter how graphic the story. Klockow-McClain said she wants to start in their shoes as people share what is most important to them. She listens to them verbalize the items that come to their minds as they help her understand their frame of mind and perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch isn\u2019t just about going out and collecting observations of wind, precipitation and atmospheric factors,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about relating to people deeply enough that you really and truly can understand the context of what they\u2019re telling you and fill this role of having some sympathy that\u2019s meaningful to them for what they\u2019ve experienced because they\u2019ve gone through something very difficult. To come in and just dispassionately have a checklist or survey wouldn\u2019t feel right to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Generating a diagnosis<\/h3>\n

Klockow-McClain spent several hours speaking with volunteers at the church before following their suggestions to see the tornado damage in person.<\/p>\n

She drove for less than 15 minutes before she saw signs of the damage and suddenly she was in the thick of it. Power lines were still down in areas. Piles of debris sat by the road as crews worked to clear side roads. Those living nearby watched for looters, which was a consistent issue after the storms.<\/p>\n

Klockow-McClain hopes her research will lead to a better understanding of the needs of specific communities in the southeast to reduce tornado deaths in that area of the United States. Her research is aimed at generating a diagnosis that could ultimately lead to an effective treatment. A part of that is telling people\u2019s stories.\"end<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A societal impacts researcher meets with those involved in alerting the public when tornadoes are near and locals who were personally impacted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":5031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-longform-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[622,649,650,505],"class_list":["post-5007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-news","tag-featured","tag-long-form","tag-societal-impacts","tag-vortex-se"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"Path to understanding: How sharing tornado stories impacts severe weather research","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5007"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5079,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007\/revisions\/5079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.nssl.noaa.gov\/nsslnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}