Although Nodaway County hasn't been hit by too many destructive tornados throughout the past several years, that doesn't mean county officials aren't prepared for it.

In light of a deadly tornado that killed 15 people in three Southwest Missouri counties and another seven in in Oklahoma and Georgia, Christy Forney, emergency management director for Nodaway County, said tornado preparedness begins way before a twister ever touches down.

“It begins with a severe weather watch or warning,” Forney said. “The sheriff's office lets me know so I am in alert. Then as that severe thunderstorm watch changes to a warning we make sure we are in contact with the National Weather Service.

“If we start to worry about tornadoes, we page out the storm spotters. If a severe thunderstorm watch or warning turns into actually spotting a rotation, we go ahead and sound an alert.”

Lee Langerock, director of Nodaway County Economic Development, said that in instances like this week's tornados in south Missouri, the economic impact for a community is significant.

“It takes years to recover from an event like that,” she said. “A community can recover from a natural disaster. It takes careful planning and preparing to ready for an event. However, from an economic perspective, you can never recapture those lost dollars from either business closures or losses. You can rebuild. It's human nature to rebuild, it's the spirit of the community to rebuild.”

Joe Baumli, presiding commissioner for Nodaway County, said if there was a disaster in Nodaway County, Forney would work closely and quickly in conjunction with emergency response units, including the American Red Cross and Missouri Army National Guard. Baumli added officials would aid in controlling the situation and providing basic necessities.

“The county has some funding available if there was a catastrophic event,” Baumli said. "But we would look at state and federal agencies for other available funds.

“The county is much better prepared than it was a couple of years ago. In case we do have a natural disaster or a fire, or something else that we can't predict, the commission is obviously trying to take steps in case such a problem or disaster would occur.”

Forney said this year's tornado season hasn't incurred as much activity as last year and that the spotters were out more frequently last year.

“It just seemed like all the time,” she said. “We had that pretty big storm last year. But most of the time I can man stuff from home. If not, I would go and sit in the sheriff's department.”

As an administrative assistant with the Maryville Department of Public Safety, Forney said her work under Keith Wood, public safety and emergency management director for the city of Maryville, has given her an advantage with her county management position.

While Forney concentrates on a county-wide area, Wood focuses on activity within city limits.

Maryville in particular is a StormReady Community, a program created through the National Weather Service.

StormReady started in Tulsa, Okla. in 1999, and was used to help America's communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property, before and during a disaster.

Wood said if a tornado touches down within city limits, his office would be in charge of controlling the situation.

“We would compare it (a tornado) to the ice storm or any other disaster,” Wood said.

The city officials work together with the Nodaway County Health Department, the American Red Cross, St. Francis Hospital and others in times of emergencies.

“At the time we got that (StormReady), we were one of the first five or six, or at least one of the first 10 in Missouri to implement the system,” Wood said. “It's a process that you have in place all of the time, so I guess we use it all of the time.”

According to the Web site www.stormready.noaa.gov, StormReady was designed to help community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety programs.

The MDPS has a severe weather policy and each of the three main divisions, the department, patrol and communications and fire, have separate responsibilities relating to that policy.

When a tornado is near, pubic safety rolls through steps beginning with its communications center, or dispatch.

The information gathered from dispatch is immediately broadcast to officers on patrol. These officers then make sure to watch for conditions that could potentially impact the community. When these officers deem it necessary, department weather spotters are activated.